Ginny Weasly and the Phasmatis Abiungo
by MEbS2
Summary: Ginny Weasly finds a necklace that changed her life, whilst trying to hold down her relationship with the ever famous Harry Potter. I wrote this last year, so please don't blame me for spelling mistakes.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_I have always known I am different. Something or someone just needed to prove it. Ever since that book, Tom Riddles book was destroyed in the chamber of secrets, I knew I was different. Never to be the same again, never go back to the old Ginny Weasly..._

I walked down the long spiralling staircase into my living room. The room was small, but very cosy, packed with books and with thousands places to sit. In the corner on a green scuffed arm chair, a pair of knitting needles and yarn was suspended in thin air, knitting a long scarf, proberly for one of my siblings or me for Christmas this year. In front of my me was the dining room. It was a pretty normal dining room; in the centre was a long wooden table, covered with a dirty light blue table cloth. At one end of the table was a huge vase of daffodils, and at the other end were three long thick candles. In front of the many chairs, knives and forks laid either side of plates; I immediately noticed there were two more place settings than usual. I knew who was in my house before I was told. As I gazed past the table into the opposite corner, a scruffy ginger cat's beaming yellow eyes stared back into mine.

"Crockshanks there you are" called a voice behind me. Hermione Granger's bushy brown hair swept past me and over to the cat. She turned, but she looked surprised when she noticed that I was standing there.

"Oh. Ginny. Hi"

"Hi" I said, with a fake smile forced onto my face.

'How are you?" Hermione asked the cat purring as she tickled his chin.

"I'm okay thank you"

She smiled at me, left the room, and went back up the stairs.

"Or at least I was until you arrived" I muttered under my breath.

My mum bustled into the room. "Oh Good morning sweetheart. Could you help me bring breakfast out?" I was about to lash out at her, to tell her why was it always me who had to help. I drew breath to shout, then stopped and said through gritted teeth, "Of course Mum. I would love to." I followed her into the kitchen. I loved our kitchen. It also had a long table in it, with more flowers on it, but no candles. On one side of the table was a door that went through into the pantry, on the other side was a long shelf stacked high with plates, and drawers filled with knives, forks and spoons. On the other side of the room was the cooker, sink and other counters. Mum walked straight over to the counter right by the cooker, and passed me a huge bowl, full to the brim of scrambled eggs. I walked back to the dining room, and placed the eggs onto the table. At this moment Harry Potter walked down the stairs, through the living room, and sat down at the table, followed closely by Ron and Hermione.

"Morning Ginny." Harry said to me a huge smile on his face.

"Good Morning Harry" I said back to him. Mum came back into the room, levitated in front of her were two plates of bacon, four racks of toast and a tray of mugs full of tea and coffee. She lowered her wand, and they landed gracefully on the table. I sat down opposite Harry.

"Oh. Damn. I forgot the Juice." Mum said as she sat down "Arthur" She called into the kitchen.

"Yes?" Came a deep, friendly voice from through the double doors. A tallish man with short ginger hair, who was wearing shabby yellow, brown and red robes, peered round the door.

"Morning Dad" Ron and I said simultaneously.

"Harry Potter. How are you boy, how are you?"

"I am good. Yourself?" Harry said with a mouth full of egg.

"I couldn't be better Harry, couldn't be better. And Hermione Granger, how are you doing dear?"

"I'm okay thank you Mr. Weasly" Hermione said over the mountain of bacon.

"Arthur, could you get the juice out of the fridge for me."

"Sure Molly." Dad said, walking back into the kitchen and came out with two cartons. One of apple juice and one of pumpkin juice. "Molly. Where are Fred and George, and Percy come to that matter?"

"Still sleeping proberly. Hold on. I will call them."

"NO!" I stood up and yelled at mum.

"Ginny?" Everyone was looking at me.

"No Mum. I will wake up Fred and George."

I ran upstairs and waited at the top; before too long I heard the clunking of china and the gentle sound of breakfast convocation. Only then did I know it was safe to go to the top of the house and into the attic. We have two attics. One is Ron's room, and one is filled with antiques that are too big, or ugly, to put downstairs. I ran into this one. I had to duck, as both of our attics have really low ceilings. I hardly ever went in this one, but Mum didn't either, and she could never find out what I had hidden in there.

"Fred. George. Where are you?" I called into the room as I slowly pulled the handle of the door until it creaked open.

"Come out. Mum is looking for you." Two ginger haired boys, exactly the same features as each other appeared out from behind a dusty cabinet. They were quite tall, with longish hair. Pale skin and only a few freckles. They were both wearing an ugly mustard coloured itchy jumper. One had a huge 'G' sewn into it; the other had an 'F'.  
"You two go downstairs to breakfast or mum will wonder where we have got to"

"Okay fine." They said at precisely the same time.

They brushed past me and walked through the door and down the stairs. I smelled the air around me as I examined the ornate furniture around me then I went behind the cabinet that Fred and George had appeared out from and I saw a cauldron full of green sludgy gel. People would have thought I would have gone ballistic, seeing the boys creating puking pastels at home when we aren't allowed any potion making in our house… If I wasn't the one who asked them to make them for me.…. Mum would be the one to go ballistic, if she finds out…..


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

After stirring the cauldron in the attic, I decided it was time to go downstairs to breakfast again, or Mum would get suspicious and send someone to find me. And just as I thought, as soon as left the room, standing right outside the door, standing with a disappointed look on his face, and his hands on his hips was…

"Percy" I said, sounding very innocent.

"Ginny. I have been sent up to find out where you are. Just come downstairs. What were you doing in there anyway?"

I reached behind, gripped the door handle and pulled it shut, still looking at Percy's face.

"I was just looking for my… Ummm…. Nothing!"

"What…. Why were you in there then?" He said, now looking puzzled.

"Umm… I was looking for my diary. Okay!"

"Oh. Okay. That's alright then. Just go down to breakfast."

I moaned under my breath, and walked down the stairs. When I got into the kitchen, Fred and George were stuffing their faces with bacon and toast. Hermione was delicately putting eggs onto her fork, and Ron and Harry were drinking from their goblets. Harry strait away put down his goblet and waved at me.

"Ginny dear. Where have you been? Oh Percy here is your breakfast" Mum said, handing a plate full of breakfast to him. I was thankful Percy came downstairs behind me so I didn't have to make up a lie for where I had been.

I sat down at the table and as soon as I did there was a squawk and a clunk on the window opposite me.

"Errol" Ron groaned "He always flies into that window" Ron said, as he reluctantly got up and pulled the brown owl through the window. Errol dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet into the scrambled egg. Mum screwed up her face, and plunged her hand partially into the egg pile and pulled out the newspaper. Text was scrawled all over the parchment, and the pictures moved. On the front page was a picture of a ragged looking man, with shaggy hair, and a cruel mouth. He was holding a plaque with numbers written on it, he was shaking and screaming. The words under it read 'Disappearances are blamed on notorious mass murderer Sirius Black'.

"What a load of crap." Mum said, shaking her head at the paper. And throwing it at the settle in the corner.

"What does the Ministry of Magic have against Sirius?" Harry said, smacking his fists on the table, making his fork fall off the. Everyone was silent, but I couldn't help myself.

"Harry. Think about it. Seriously. Sirius escaped from Azkaban, that's something no one has ever done. No one has even got close. And the Ministry of Magic must think that Sirius is a bloody powerful wizard to escape from it. Plus Bellatrix Lestrange, a KNOWN follower of Voldemort is his cousin, so The Ministry must think it runs in blood" I said. Everyone stared at me in shock. Everyone was thinking what I said, but no one would have said it. It was totally silent; you could hear a pin drop.

"Anyone want some pumpkin juice" said Hermione, offering the carton around the table, with an expressionless face.

I was in my room. My room was tiny, but at least the ceiling was higher than Ron's ceiling. I can stand in mine, Ron cant in his room! I was sitting on my bed when there was a knock. Not at my bedroom door, but at the front door. I heard mum talking and opening the door, it creaked as it was opened. I could hear Ron, Hermione and Harry scrambling to their feet, and running downstairs. I got up and looked around my door.  
I peered over the banister just in time to see a black shaggy dog transform into the man on the front of that days Daily Prophet.

"Sirius" Harry said, before running over to him, and hugging him.

"Harry. How are you?" Sirius said.

"I'm okay thank you Sirius. And you?"

"I've been better Harry. Have you seen the Daily Prophet?"

"Yea. Sorry about that Sirius." Harry said, with a sad face. Lupin, Tonks and Mad Eye Moody were also standing on the threshold.

"Hello Molly. Is Arthur around?" Lupin said, looking his usual. He was pale, and always looked ill, like he would be sick at any moment.

"Yes Remus. He is in the shed round the back. Just through the kitchen and out the back door. You will see him easily, but watch out for gnomes. There has been an infestation in the hedges."

"Thanks Molly. Come on Tonks" As they walked off, Tonks winked at Harry, Ron and Hermione."

"Alastair." Percy said. Finally getting up from the table. "Have you seen Winkus Oddpick recently? I read his interesting article about whether Muggles Are as Stupid as We Think? They all kept talking, as Mum let them inside. Everyone sat on the sofas in the living room around the coffee table. I decided then to come downstairs and say hello to everyone.

Tonks and Lupin sat holding hands side by side. Sirius was sitting on the red arm chair opposite Lupin and Tonks, and Mad Eye Moody was standing by the fire, staring into it. He looked transfixed but the flames whipping around the logs and coal. He spoke every so often, but stayed looking deep into the fire.

It was silent for a while, until Ron broke the silence by saying "Mum we're going to Diagon Alley aren't we"

"Sweetheart, we don't even have the book lists"

"Oh right. These came yesterday" Ron plunged his hand into his trouser pocket and pulled out around six creamy coloured letters.

"Oh Ronald." Mum said sternly, snatching them from him. "Hermione, here is yours, Harry, Ginny, Fred, George and Ron's. I really hope there aren't many extra books. Arthur has been really tight on the purse strings."

"I've only got two more: '100 Magical Herbs and Fungi' and 'Charms through the ages'." Said Ron.

"Same as me" Harry said. He folded his letter and put it in his pocket.

"I only need one more, 'Care of Magical Creatures – Grade Two' said Ginny, staring at her list.

"I need three new books. 'Ancient Magic – Grade Five', 'Care of Magical Creatures – Grade Four', and 'Potion Making – Grade Six'" Hermione said.

"We need…" Fred and George were interrupted by a loud….

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Dad hobbled in, clutching his leg, his face purple.

"Arthur" Mum ran towards him, Tonks and Lupin stood up, and Moody turned to stare at the scene.

"Arthur, what happened?"

Dad pointed outside. He lifted his hand away from his leg to reveal a gash in his leg. Blood was oozing onto the carpet beneath him.

"Bloody Gnomes" Sirius said. He and Lupin traipsed outside. I could see them through the window, shooting spells at all the gnomes.

"Allow me Molly" Moody stepped forward, pointed his wand at Dad's leg. "Reparo" He muttered under his breath. Almost immediately the skin had grown back, and my dad's face had gone back to its original colour.

A couple of hours later everyone in the house was gathered around the table. On the surface was a humongous roast chicken, broccoli, roast potatoes, peas, gravy and red currant jelly.

I was very joyous around the table. It felt exactly like Christmas, except Bill and Charlie weren't there. It was so funny after we had all devoured the food. Dad and Sirius got really drunk on the red wine. Moody got a bit tipsy, and Lupin stuck with the Pumpkin juice. He was happy though. That's the thing about Lupin. He looks ill, and like he would be miserable, but he is a really lovely person. He was bubbly, and sweet, and has a great personality, most of the time, sometimes he is actually miserable!

"Ginny. Look how you've grown, since the last time I saw you!" Sirius babbled, still drunk.

"What, since three minutes ago?" I said in a harsh voice.

"Naaaa – Na – None…" Sirius just about said. He would never look in the same place for more than four seconds, before lolling his head back like a puppet, and hen looking somewhere else.

"Sirius. I think you have had enough." Mum said, pulling the wine bottle out of Sirius's tight hands. He didn't let go for a long time, then released it so Mum flew back a couple of feet. Sirius looked around for a while, and then fell off his chair. I realized he could have cracked his head, but no one could stop laughing. Dad, being drunk as well, was in hysterics!

Sirius woke up the next day at about four in the morning. Mum and Lupin had levitated Sirius into one of the spare bedrooms on the second floor. It was a smallish room. With dark wooden beams running across the ceiling. It had a four poster bed with white sheets. And a red velvet blanket. In one corner was a massive brown wooden cabinet. Every so often it would shake, like something was moving inside of it. There was a huge lock on the door, so Mum would never find what was inside. I knew.

I was just bringing Sirius some breakfast, as he couldn't come downstairs for food as he was having a headache, when Harry walked into me. I dropped the tray with toast, bacon and fried egg onto the floor boards.

"Ginny. I am so sorry. Oh my god, I am such a prat. Let me help."

We both went on all fours, scrambled around for the breakfast. I went over to the last bit of bacon, when there was a bang noise, and my forehead was in immense pain. I clutched it and looked up, and saw that Harry was holding his as well. He leant a bit towards me. I knew he was going to kiss me. I moved a bit closer, and the wooden door to the left of me creaked open. Sirius stood there, one hand on the door, and one on the door frame. He was wearing checked green pyjama trousers, and a longish navy blue dressing gown.

"Is that my breakfast you're holding Harry?" Everyone looked at Harry's hand. He opened it a little, and mangled toast and bacon fell out.

"Hi Sirius" Harry said scrambling to his feet.

"I'll get you some more breakfast Sirius" I said, standing up. I walked back down the stairs, I heard Harry walk into Sirius's room and they shut the door behind them.

I went to the kitchen, and piled up the empty plate. I clambered back up the stairs. I was about to knock on Sirius's door, when I heard them talking.

"_So you really like her do you" said Sirius. _

"_Yeah." Harry replied._

I assumed they were talking about Cho Chang at school. Until I heard Sirius say:

"_What happened to that Cho girl Harry?"_

"_She... I don't know. I just like Ginny more."_

My heart stopped for a few seconds. I know we had almost kissed earlier, but I thought that was just a thing…. A one off. But this was big… I wondered if Ron knew.

I waited a few seconds to hear something else being said, but there was just total silence. I slowly knocked on the door and almost immediately Harry opened it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After hearing Sirius and Harry speaking about me, it was so awkward around us. Not for

him, but for me, I would try to never be alone in a room with him! He always smiled at me, or tried to start up convocation, but I would always end the speech very quickly. I still felt very agitated at everything and angry when there was no need, and I didn't really know why. Most nights I woke up after seeing green flashes of light, but for some reason, I enjoyed the dreams. Being woken up by green jets of light and sparks, I loved it. The rush of adrenalin was so enjoyable. I never told ANYONE this. Imagine what they would think about me…

I walked into the kitchen, the stone floor cold against my bare feet. I turned the corner and looked at the clock. This wasn't an ordinary clock. There were nine hands on it; on each one was a small picture of someone in our family. Dad's hand pointed to "Work', so did Charlie and Bill's. The rest pointed at 'Home'!

"Ginny. Thank god you're down here. We have been looking for you." Said two identical voices from behind me. I turned round to see Fred and George gesturing me to come upstairs. I trailed after them into the attic. We crept past Ron's room, not wanting to wake Harry or Ron. Hermione was sleeping in the spare room. A foul stench caught my nose, coursing me to gag. We went round behind the same wooden cabinet the twins had come out from behind. As we walked closer and closer to it the stench got worse and worse. The cauldron that had the green goo in now had pink liquid inside. Fred knelt down and stirred it. The smell suddenly became very lovely, like melted caramel.

"This isn't the finished one. They are kept in the cupboard in Sirius's room" Fred said.

"Thanks so much" I said to both of them.

"Why did you really want the puking pastels anyway Ginny?" George said.

"In case I need them!" I said as I stared into the pot.

"Ginny? Are you alright" Fred and George said together.

"Yea… I'm fine"

"It's just you have been staring into that pot for around seven minutes!"

"Oh. Ok." I walked out of the room and down the stairs. Just in time as well. I heard Mum on the floor above me yell.

"FRED, GEORGE. WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? YOU KNOW YOU ARNT ALOUD TO DO POTIONS IN THIS HOUSEHOLD. HOW DARE YOU. YOU'RE FATHER AND I TRY SO HARD TO KEEP THIS ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD AND THIS, THIS IS HOW YOU THANK US. YOU COULD BLOW UP THIS WHOLE HOUSE, RIGHT BY HARRY AND RON'S ROOM. THE SMOKE COULD KNOCK YOU OUT OR WORSE… KILL YOU!" Between her shouts I could hear Fred and George TRYING to speak, but she yelled over them.

"Sorry Mum." They said when she finally stopped.

Sirius, Percy and Hermione came over to me.

"What's going on Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"I….. I have no idea" I said smirking and looking at the ceiling.

How could I do that? How could I just stand there, and walk away from all responsibility for the puking pastels…

We all stood by the huge fire place. Mum picked up the small pot on the wall by the grate. It was filled with grey powder. Dad went first; he stood in the Fire place, took a handful of Flu Powder, said 'Diagon Alley' and threw it at the ground. At once he had disappeared into green flames. Ron went next, then Hermione, then Harry, then Fred, Percy, George, then me. Mum came through after us all.

Suddenly we were standing in broad daylight. Staring at hundreds of witches and wizards, dotted about a cobbled high street.

"Right. Ron, Harry and Hermione you three stick together. Percy, you can go on your own, and Fred and George, you take Ginny." I could hear them moan as they heard the news, exchanging looks of disappointment at each other. Harry, Ron and Hermione disappeared into the crowds. Percy walked off into The Daily Prophet Office, and Mum and Dad went straight into Flourish and Blots.

"Come on Ginny" George said grabbing my arm and dragging me forward. I shook my hand out of his grip and scratching him a little. I felt really powerful for a split second, then as I noticed his face was screwed up in pain, and he was clutching his arm. He lifted his hand away. On his arm were three cuts half a centimetre deep, bleeding scarlet blood onto the ground? He opened his eyes and looked at me with a terrified expression. I felt awful. My heart was sinking. I was a horrible person. How could I have done that…?

"Oh young boy. What happened?" Said an elderly lady. She came up to us and grabbed George's arm. "Hang on. I will fix this in a jiffy." She pulled her wand out from her cloak and pointed it at his cuts. "_Reparo_." She muttered, before skulking away. The skin grew back over where the cut had been. Just like it had when Moody fixed Dad's gnome bite.

"Ginny what do you think you're doing?" Fred said. Glaring at me.

"I don't know. I just lost control. Fred you have to believe I couldn't do that. It wasn't me. I didn't move. I don't know. Just don't think I'm that kind of person. It's like someone or something took over my body. You have to believe me….." I had to stop talking then, as tears started streaming down my face.

Fred comforted me a little, but George still looked terrified. He walked on. As Fred had his arm around me, George kept walking, looking back at me, with a scared and confused expression on his face, staring at me? He walked into Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

I hugged Fred, but he was very tense, proberly worried I would hurt him as well. After a while we followed George. He was at the counter with three ice cream sundaes. He turned to see us standing by the doorway. A half smile crept onto his face, but then he looked down at his rolled up sleeve, and slight lines left from the cuts, then his face turned scared once again.

We sat at a small table by the biggest window in the shop. I slowly spooned the vanilla and chocolate ice cream into my mouth. It was completely silent until…

"Oh god. These people again" I looked to where George was starring. Standing there was a tallish pale man with long blonde hair. He had a stern face, a lot like the boy standing at his side. He was also blonde, but his was short hair. It was slick as it had been heavily gelled back. Straight away he stared at our table. He looked like he would be sick as he turned his nose up at us.

"Malfoy" I muttered under my breath. Draco whispered something to his father, Luscious, he also stared at us. They walked into the queue, Luscious holding Draco back from cutting the queue by putting the end of his black walking stick onto his shoulder. This stick was also his wand. The tip had a silver snake, baring its long fangs at everything.

"I hate him so much. The little slimy git" The twins said together.

"Don't you Ginny?" said Fred

I didn't even realize they were talking to me, until Fred shock my shoulder.

"Yea. What?" I questioned.

"You hate him don't you Ginny?"

"Yea. I… I hate his guts…"

"What were you looking at Ginny?" George asked.

"Ummm… Nothing. Come on, let's leave" Really I was staring at Michael Corner, from Ravenclaw. We all got up, just as Luscious and Draco left, Fred put a tip on the table, as George had paid at the counter. As we walked towards Gringots to get the money from Mum and Dad, I just about saw Harry, Ron and Hermione rush down Nocturne Alley.

"Stop you guys." I said to the twins.

"What?"

I was just about to tell them about Ron, Hermione and Harry running down Nocturne Alley, when I stopped talking.

"Nothing. Sorry." We pushed open the oak double doors and we walked into a humongous room. The shape was a bit like a chapel. It had a very high ceiling, with long marble desks running up the sides of the straight room. Goblins were situated at the desks, writing with huge quills. Mum and Dad were standing half way between us and the other end of the room.

They rushed towards us as soon as they noticed we had come in.

"Ginny dear. Here is your money, Fred here is yours and here you go George.

"Thanks Mum" I said before giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"So, what shops have you been too?" said Dad

"Only Florean Fortescue's." George said.

"Oh you three. What are you like?"

"Any way have you seen Harry, Hermione and Ron anywhere?" Dad said, with a puzzled expression on his face.

"No…" I said, remembering seeing them darting down to Nocturne Alley.

"Okay. It's just we haven't seen them here, and they need their money…"

"I'm sure their around Mum" said Fred

"Oh well. You three better be off." Mum sad, shunting us away.

We walked back down the long marble hallway, through the doors that banged shut behind us, and into the daylight of the high-street.

"Where shall we go now Ginny?" the twins asked.

"How about…. Flourish and Blots" the three of us set off into the crowds. After a long time of pushing and shoving, we finally go to Flourish and Blots. It was a large building. Red wood frame, a large open space inside, well it would be, if it weren't for all the huge stacks of books, going high up into the ceiling, and for bookcases that were standing at every turn. There was a small balcony above us, and standing on it was Michael Corner, and Dean Thomas!

"Ginny what do you need to get?"

"Oh ummm… Care of Magical Creatures – Grade Two"

"Ok. George and I don't need anything. So that's good."

"Where are the Care of Magical Creatures Books though?"

"Oh. Good point. You can never find anything in this bloody shop"

"Ask someone."

"Okay. Miss. MISS" Fred shouted to a lady walking past us, with a badge on her robes saying:

Flourish and Blots

Employee.

Marie.

"Yes young boy. What would you like?"

"Care of Magical Creatures… Grade… Two"

"Oh yes. Right this way." She weaved us in and out of book shelves and book piles until we finally got to a huge picture of a Hipogriph stuck onto a wall with a sign next to it saying 'Care of Magical Creatures'. I picked up the Grade Two book, and as soon as we could we rushed to the counter and paid  
2 Galleons, 10 Sickles and 5 Knuts and then ran out the shop, and I swear when I shook the book a lot, it made a very tiny but very real growl at me…

We went to Septimas's Sweet Shop, we bought loads in there. We bought: Chocolate Frogs, Liquorices Wands, Pepper Imps, Chocó balls, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Fizzing Whizzbees, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Tooth flossing String mints, Ice Mice, Cockroach Clusters, Jelly Slugs, Blood Lollipops, Acid Pops and Sugar Quills. We walked out of the shop, with huge bags of sugary treats smacking against our legs.

"What time did Mum say we need to meet her?" said George.

"She didn't did she?" I answered.

"Okay. Well we better start heading back to Flourish and Blots. That's where we started from! I bet you five Galleons they are their" Fred said.

"Deal" said George. They shock hands, and we kept walking.

We traipsed back to Flourish and Blots, sucking on Liquorish Wands and Sugar Quills, and just as we approached, I realized Fred was right. Outside the doors stood Mum and Dad. In the corner of my eye I saw George hand Fred something.

"Shut Up" George muttered to Fred.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred, George and I sat on the living room floor in a circle, three boxes of Bertie Bots Every Flavoured Beans in the centre.

"Go on, I dare you" Ron said to Hermione. Hermione picked up a small grey bean off of the floor and put it up to her mouth. Her face screwed up in fright, she placed it on her tongue and chewed. Her faced relaxed as she said. "Yum, vanilla."

"Go on Ginny. Your turn." Fred said. Wanting to look brave, I didn't even screw up my face. I shoved it in my mouth, and in under three seconds I had spat it out. There was uproar of laughter from everyone.

"What flavour was it Ginny?" said Harry.

"Earwax…." I said, wiping my sleeve on my tongue.

"Ginny. Are you alright?" said Harry. Everyone else was in hysterics.

"Harry, go on you try one" said Ron.

"Okay…" He picked up a red one. "It's proberly cinnamon." He put it to his lips and ate it. "EWWWW. CHILLI!"

I jumped as a voice behind me said "Have you all packed your bags, you're going back to Hogwarts the day after tomorrow" It was Mum, holding a huge basket of laundry standing in the doorway.

"I've packed Mrs. Weasly." Harry said.

"Me too" Hermione piped up.

"I haven't" said Ron, looking at the floor.

"I almost have" I said, before rushing past Mum and to my room before Harry would ask to help. I didn't want him to since I only had my underwear to pack!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

I woke up at seven the next day, Right away I pulled myself out of bed, I got into my comfiest clothes; my tracksuits and a t-shirt, although all I was going to do was play Quiditch, I wanted to look nice since Harry was going to be there… So I changed into a nice pair of jeans, and a beautiful top. I tied up my hair, and put on mascara. I looked in my drawer for some trainers, I only had two pairs, my shiny new ones, or my scuffed up ones. I wanted to look nice, but I wanted to impress Harry. I decided to be practical and wear the old ones. I walked downstairs and into the garden, just dodging a gnome as I left the back door. I sprinted out of the rickety gate and into the huge field, and I went to the shed. The shed was almost all filled with muggle things. There were pencils, cars, rubber ducks… and in one corner there was a telephone box. But across one wall was a huge cabinet. I opened it to find about fourteen hooks, with a name above them and Quiditch uniforms hanging off them. The names were 'Charlie, Bill, Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny' the others all said 'Guest' above them. I noticed Fred, George's and Ron's uniforms were gone. I grabbed mine, and quickly put on the padding and the helmet. I also collected my broomstick from the side of the cabinet.

I walked out just in time to see Fred hit a bludger in George's direction. It missed him by a centimetre, and, when George recovered from the shock, he hit it right back. They got into a huge fight, so no one even noticed I had mounted my broom and was flying around and around.

"Ginny" Harry said, flying over to me.

"Hey. How are you?" I asked

"I'm brilliant thanks. You?"

"Yeah. I'm good" We looked at each other for ages, until the moment was broken by the same bludger, flying threw us and over to Ron, who was floating by the goals.

"AGHHHHH" There was a bang, and a squeal, and Ron was lying on the grass.

"RON" Hermione yelled, running over to him, as she hadn't been flying.

"Bloody hell" Ron said, lifting his head to look up at us all. "Watch it Fred"

"Is anything broken Ron" Hermione asked.

"No nothing. Come on let's play Quiditch." As Ron flew off, Hermione looked very unhappy. I flew over to Ron.

"Ron, say thank you"

"What for"

"She was so nice to you just then"

"You recently started hating Hermione, What do you care"

"I don't hate her, it's just… I don't know. Sometimes I just feel. Never mind. Just say thank you!"

"Fine…" he said. "HERMIONE" he called down to her.

"Yeah"

"Thanks, ummm for being so nice!" A huge smile crept onto her face as he said this.

"No problem…" She went to sit on the bench again, still smiling, and reading her copy of Hogwarts History.

"Finally, let's play!" said George. Everyone flew around, until George chucked the Quaffle up into the air. I grabbed it and flew straight towards Ron, who was guarding the goal posts. Since we were, once again, helping Ron with his defence, I hurled the ball through the middle post, which would have been the easiest to defend.

"GOAL" Yelled Fred.

"Come on Ron. You can do better than that!" George yelled to him.

"Let's play again" Ron said, blushing.

George threw the red Quaffle up again, this time Harry caught it. He raced towards the goals, threw the left goalpost.

"GOAL… again" yelled Fred.

"Ron. COSERNTRATE" Harry called to him.

"Come on Ron" Hermione shouted up at him. Ron seemed to be taken by this; he closed his eyes, breathed in deeply, then shouted:

"Come on. Try again!"

George, once again, threw the ball up. Harry caught it again, zoomed towards Ron, and lobbed the ball through the hoop, but Ron twirled round on him broom, and the tail whacked the Quaffle back in Harry's direction.

"RON!" everyone yelled. We flew towards him, patting him on the back, and cheering "Ron… Ron..." over and over again! We all sank slowly to the floor.

"Yes. I did it! Finally" Ron yelled to us."Yeah" He cheered, and punched his fist into the air.

"Shall we play some more Quiditch?" said Fred.

"Yeah. Let's play some more!" Ron said, flying back up to the goals."Come on George, chuck the Quaffle. Come on!"

"Ron, you're getting to full of yourself!" George yelled. We all flew back up into the air, as Ron requested, George threw the Quaffle, and we played a three hour long game of Quiditch before calling it a day!

When we finally finished the game of Quiditch, we all dragged ourselves inside. I was covered in mud, my mascara had run since it was raining outside, and we were all soaked, except Hermione of course. Whilst sitting on the bench, she had cast a spell so a waterproof handless umbrella had appeared above her.

I went to my room to get changed out of my muddy wet clothes. I chose my second favourite top, and some comfy trousers. I pulled my trunk out from under my bed, and checked through it. Pretty much all of my things were in there, until I remembered what I had forgotten. I ran out my room, down the stairs into the kitchen, out the back door, and into the shed, where I had moved the puking pastels to. Ahead of me was the huge cabinet with the Quiditch stuff inside, there was the Skoda car half, and lots of other Muggle things. In the opposite wall was a small shelf, with an ornate antique stuffed owl, an old recorder and a small safe. I reached for the shelf, but couldn't, so I dragged out a small box out from under my Dad's desk. I stepped on it and stretched to the safe again, and just as my fingers grazed the side of the shiny red safe, the box collapsed.

"Ouch" I clutched my knee, as I lied on the floor. The broken box beneath my feet... I stood up slowly, and looked at the small safe still sitting on the shelf.

"Shit" I muttered to myself as I looked at the small cut on my leg. I scanned around the shed for another thing to stand on. I found a small step ladder under the car. I walked back over to the broken box, and pushed it to one side. I opened the ladder and stepped up. I reached for the safe, and grabbed it. I jumped down from the ladder. As I jumped I saw in the corner of my eye something glint inside the fragments of the box. I put the safe on the desk, and moved the shattered wood that was once the box. Lying on the floor, under the wood, was a tiny purple gem, with a small hole in the tip. It was completely enacted, even though my entire weight had fallen onto it. Next to the gem was a small silver chain with a butterfly clasp at one end. I picked up the chain and the gem, and the safe once again, and went back to the yard. I had to run up the path shielding my head with the safe to get the house, as it had started to rain heavily again. I yanked on the door handle, but it refused to open. I hammered my fist on the glass. A crash of lightning sounded behind me, which motivated me to slam my fist harder on the wooden door. Mum was jogging towards the door with a shocked expression. She turned the key and it clicked in the lock. Mum pulled it open, and let me inside.

"Ginny. What are you doing outside in a storm?"

"Getting my safe from the shed!"

"Charlie's safe? Why?"

"No. It's mine!" I said sternly.

"Ginny. Your father needs it for work!"

"What the hell. Mum it's a flipping safe. I just NEED it"

"Ginny watch your mouth. Just give it to your father!"

"WHY?"

"It's for a muggle display at the Ministry"

"Oh whatever. You just want anything that reminds you of Charlie!"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with _me_!"

"Ginny. Just behave. Find something else" Mum said, calming her voice a little.

"YOU FIND SOMETHING ELSE!" I said before turning and walked out the room.

"Ginny. GINNY. Where are you going" I simply ignored her and went to my room to take out the contents of the safe. As the lock was rusty and the dial wouldn't turn, I grabbed a pair of scissors, rammed them between the door and the body of the safe, and levered it open. The puking pastels fell into the palm of my hand. I scrambled for a small cardboard box from under my bed, and put the puking pastels inside. I had the feeling I needed to do something else, but I couldn't think of it. I opened my trunk once again, and put the pastels inside.

"Bugger." I clutched my knee again, like I had in the shed. I had knelt on the purple jewel and the chain next to it. It was a beautiful jewel, I didn't know who got, and where it came from before it was put in the shed, but it was gorgeous. I slid the small chain through the hole in the tip of the gem. It fit perfectly. I hung it around my neck. It was freezing cold, like ice around my throat. I looked over at the safe again, and at a picture of my mother and father. They looked so happy, holding me when I was four years old. With huge smiles on their faces. I took a pad and a pen off my chest of drawers. I wrote a small letter in my untidy scrawl.

_Dear Mum and Dad,  
Sorry about arguing about the safe. Here have it. I will miss you when I am at Hogwarts. I love you.  
Ginny xoxoxoxox_

I stuck the letter to the shiny top of the safe with spell-o-tape. And placed it on my parent's bed in the room next to mine. I curled up in my bed, and fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

As we did every year, we filled up just by barrier between the platforms nine and ten, and one by one we ran, full pelt through the supposedly hard brick wall. But instead of bouncing back off it with a huge crash, we just ran right through. Fred went first, then George, then Harry, Ron, Hermione, Mum then I ran through. In front of me stood a bright gleaming red and black steam engine. Thousands of children were dotted about on the platform, hugging, putting their bags into the compartments and in some instances (Nevel) crying. I hugged and kissed my Mum and Dad, before climbing on board the train. I walked in the corridor and found a compartment to sit in. My best friends Mary, Louise and Hannah were sitting in it all talking, Hannah holding an adorable silver tabby kitten.

"Aww. What its name?" I said, sliding open the glass door.

"GINNY!" They all said, getting to their feet and hugging me. I went over to the slightly opened window, and leant out. I hugged my Mum and Dad again, half in, half out of the window.

"I love you" I kept saying to them.

"I love you as well sweetheart" said Mum

"I love you as well Ginny" said Dad. There was a huge whistle, a wave of smoke, and we were moving.

"Bye Mum, bye Dad" I said as we slowly turned the corner, and they were out of sight.

"So what did you get up to in the holiday's Ginny?" Louise asked

"Umm. Not much. My brother's friends came to stay!"

"Was Harry Potter there?" Louise said, getting really excited, with a huge smile on her face.

"Yeah. He's my brother's best friend!"

"Oh my god. I would LOVE to meet him!" Mary said.

"You're so lucky Ginny" said Hannah.

"Yeah. Well to tell you the truth you guys. We almost kissed in the holidays!"

"Huh!" They all gasped. "What do you mean almost? If it was me, and I had the opportunity, I would so follow through" said Louise.

Her face drooped, and she rested her head in her hands. The carriage door slid open and the familiar voice asked:

"Anything of the trolley dears?" Before any of us could say anything a voice called over us

"Three Chocolate Frogs please"

"HARRY POTTER!" said Mary.

"Hi Ginny."

"Here you are dear" said the lady wheeling the trolley. TRYING to hand Harry the chocolate frogs.

"Thanks. Ginny would you like to come into our carriage, with Ron, Hermione and Me?" Harry said.

"Umm… Maybe later, I am going to talk to talk my friends for a while. Sorry." I said.

"I'll come Harry" said Louise.

"Hi… Lucy is it?" Harry asked with a confused expression on his face.

"No. My name Louise"

"Oh… Hi. So Ginny you will be in later?"

"Yep, defiantly Harry" Harry walked back down the corridor, then stopped, came back, and collected his chocolate frogs.

Mary and Hannah started giggling. He clutched his face; looked at the floor and walked back to his carriage just before he went in he smiled at me. I kept looking at where he had been standing, completely transfixed. I couldn't think of anything else.

"Excuse me. Girls" said the lady pushing the trolley.

"Yeah?" I said shaking my head and looking back round.

"Do you want anything from the trolleys?"

We were sitting in the compartment; it was completely silent as Louise was still upset, since she had made a fool of herself in front of Harry.

"I think I'm going to go to Harry's compartment"

"Okay Ginny. Come back though" Mary said.

"Yeah. Defiantly" I said.

I walked past about nine carriages. Until I saw Hermione clutching Crockshanks, Ron holding Scabbers but Harry, wasn't there. I pulled the cold metal handle so the door opened.

"Where is Harry?" I asked.

"Hi Ginny" said Hermione.

"Hi. Where is Harry?"

"Isn't he with you? He said he went to find you!"

"Nope… He told me to come to this cabin"

It was completely silent until from the other end of the train, there was a huge scream, and someone yelled

"Expelliarmus!"

"Harry" Ron and Hermione said together.

"We all walked down the corridor. Everyone was leaning out of their carriages, and looking where the flashes of light were coming from.

"LEVICORPUS" shouted another voice.

I ran down faster than Ron and Hermione, and no one else dared to go down there.

I saw Harry, levitated in the air, Malfoy charming him. At first I was scared, then, I blinked, and suddenly, a wash of anger took over my body.

"IMPEDIMENTER" I yelled, grabbing my wand out of my jumper, and pointing it at Malfoy. A flash of blue light flew at him. In a millisecond he was lying on his stomach. He stood up to look at me.

"Oh, Potter you've got yourself a blood traitor girlfriend"

"That does it" I lifted my arm, clenched my fist and punched him round the nose! He clutched it; blood soaked through his fingers and dripped onto the floor. His other hand loosened and his wand fell onto the carpet. There was a thud behind me, and Harry was lying on the floor as well, as the curse had broken when the wand wasn't pointed at him anymore.

"Ginny. What the hell are you doing?" said Ron behind me.

"Protecting Harry. What does it look like?" Ron's face looked worried, as he pointed behind me. There was a huge purple flash from behind me, then I fell down into nothing…

"Ginny? Are you okay?" I woke to see Michael Corner, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Louise (who was virtually drooling over Harry), Mary and Hannah all leaning over me. I was lying on the seat in my compartment. Hannah's new cat, Megan, was sitting on the seat opposite me.

"Ginny. Are you alright?" said Mary.

"What. What happened?" I asked.

"Malfoy charmed you. With the Faticulous spell, it makes you faint" Hermione said.

"Malfoy, but… How did he get away with it?" I said sitting up.

"Well, He did, from the adult perspective… But don't worry. Ron, Harry and… Sorry I don't know your name…"

"It's Michael Corner" he said.

"Hi Michael. But yeah, Michael, Harry and Ron took care of him!" Hermione continued.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well…."They all showed me their knuckles. They were purple and bloody.

"Huh. I didn't know they were that bad" said Hermione. She pointed her wand at their hands.

"Reparo" she muttered. They healed perfectly.

"Thanks Hermione" said Ron

"Yeah. Thanks loads" Harry said

"Thanks" said Michael.

"No problem" She put her wand back into her robes. "You lot, you need to get into your robes. I except we'll be arriving soon"

"Okay. Thanks Hermione"

"Hermione, come here, look at this" Two pretty girls, also in their robes, leant round the door.

"Okay. Bye you guys" said Hermione and she left the compartment…

Everyone left the compartment, except Harry. He sat next to me looking the other way.

"You're sure that you're okay Ginny"

"Yeah. My head is throbbing a little though"

"Oh. Let me see" I sat up a little; he put his hand on the back of my head.

"Ouch. There is a bump. That must hurt." He looked straight into my eyes, leaned a little closer. I stared back into his emerald eyes, I leaned forward as well.

"Come on Harry" said a voice behind him.

"Hermione" Harry said standing up.

"Oh. Sorry both of you. I didn't know I was interrupting. It's just we've stopped" And sure enough there was a huge scramble in the corridor outside. Children running out with their bags and pets.

"Megan. MEGAN" I heard Hannah shouting. Trying to find her kitten.

I stared out of the window. A huge face, with a big bushy brown beard stared back at me.

"Hiya Harry. Ginny" the man said

"HAGRID!" Harry said. Hermione and Harry ran out of the door and onto the platform. I took this opportunity to change into my robes, and to get all my things together. I walked off the train and went over to Mary, Louise and Hannah. I saw straight away that Hannah had been reunited with her cat once again.

"Right Everyone This Way" Hagrid called over the crowds, gesturing us to Professor Flitwick.

"Right. As usual the first years come with me, and the rest of the school, follow Professor Flitwick." Hagrid's gruff voice said. A bunch of scared looking children reluctantly followed him down a dark earth path to the Black Lake, where they would soon be taken across in small wooden boats, like I was in my first year. However, the rest of the schools were taken up to the castle by carriages, which were drawn by thestrals. You would only see these animals if you have seen death, so, most students only see carriages drawn magically by themselves.

I clambered on board one of the rickety wooden carriages, with Hannah, Mary and Louise. As soon as Louise's foot lifted from the ground we were off. It was a longish ride, winding through trees thick trees, their velvety leaves hung over our heads, light seeping through the high branches, which was the only light in the whole track, so it was pretty dark.

"Ginny. What was that whole thing on the train. Harry tried to explain, but how did the whole thing start? Said Mary.

"I really don't know how it started. I came into the compartment, Harry was hanging upside down, and Malfoy was lying next to some trunks, pointing his wand at Harry. I came in, blasted a spell at him, and then punched him."

"Why did you punch him as well?"

"He called me a Blood Traitor!"

"HE DIDN'T" said Hannah, gasping.

"Yep. But I clobbered him. Then… He blasted a spell at me. And I woke up with everyone leaning over me"

"Cool." Louise said. It was totally silent for ages, until Mary shouted out:

"HOGWARTS. I SEE IT"

"Calm down Mary" I said. She always gets excited when she sees Hogwarts. Even though I had seen Hogwarts already today, a smile crept onto my face as I looked up at the beautiful dimly lit caste….


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

There was total uproar in the Great Hall, as Professor McGonagall carried a shabby hat, and led a line of terrified looking children between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. The first years stood in a large group at the front of the room, in front of the staff Table. Professor McGonagall placed the old hat onto a stool, pulled her wand out from her cloak, pointed it into the air, and a long piece of parchment materialized out of nothing. The first years gasped, some of them obviously haven't seen much magic… She pushed her thin glasses down her nose, and stared at the list.

I was staring at Professor McGonagall, so I didn't realize who was talking; it made me jump when someone started singing the familiar tune.

"_Years and years and years ago,  
With their one shared dream decided,  
The Hogwarts founders came together,  
Not knowing they'd be divided,  
They made the four great houses,  
And gave them specific meaning,  
Still staying best friends,  
Not knowing one was scheming,  
Godric made great Gryffindor,  
For the brave and with a strong heart,  
Rowena made skilled Ravenclaw,  
For the beautiful and smart,  
Salazar made cunning Slytherin,  
For the intelligent and sometimes the best,  
Helga made simple Hufflepuff,  
And took in all the rest,_

"_But this wasn't good enough,  
In sneaky Salazar's mind,  
He thought Hogwarts should be kept for Pure Bloods,  
And that they should leave the rest behind,  
He wanted this dream to come true,  
He talked to the other three,  
They talked for days, They talked for nights,  
But they couldn't all agree,  
He left the trio all alone,  
To keep the school together,  
He was never seen ever again,  
But his memory will live on forever,  
That is the whole story,  
You need to know no more,  
Just remember the noble house founders,  
The trio that was once a four…"_

There was a round of applause from the tables, but the first years looked just as nervous as they did before.

"Melanie Albert" Professor McGonagall called to the first years. A chubby ginger haired girl, with thick plaits pushed through the crowd, and sat on the stall. Professor McGonagall placed the hat onto Melanie's head. It slid straight down over her eyes.

"RAVENCLAW" it yelled. There was huge applause from the Ravenclaw table, as the girl went and sat on the bench.

"Amy Bell" Professor McGonagall said. A thin pale girl, with long blonde hair sat confidently on the stool, gazing into the crowds. She looked at our table, scanned it, and then fixed her eyes on Harry. An evil smile crept onto her face.

"SLYTHERIN" The hat said before it had barely touched her hair.

"Michael Gregg" said Professor McGonagall. A really fat boy, with shortish brown hair climbed onto the stool.

"HUFFLEPUFF" The hat said after a while.

"Jeremy Howard"

"GRYFFINDOR"

The whole table, including me, stood up, smacking our hands together and cheering. The rest of the first years were: Jack Johnson who went to Slytherin, Olivia Knight she was placed in Ravenclaw, Rosie Munn she came to Gryffindor, Timothy Price he went to Hufflepuff,  
Wendy Russfield who came to Gryffindor and Oliver Vidler, who went to Ravenclaw.

Professor McGonagall took the hat and the stool and sat down in-between Professor Trelawney and Snape. There was a wave of noise, people talking to the new house members, but as soon as Dumbledore stood up, there was total silence in the Hall. Although he was an old man, Dumbledore always had a spring in his step. He had several feet of long grey hair, and a long beard. He had half moon spectacles balancing on the tip of his nose.

"Another year has dawned at Hogwarts. And we must, as many of you have, welcome our new students. And the old ones." He cleared his throat and carried on. "Before we start eating our magnificent feast, I have a few things to say. We have one new member of staff. Please welcome Professor Andros Peaks." Everyone clapped as we all stared at the man sitting between Professor Sprout and Hagrid. He stood up as Dumbledore gestured to him with an outstretched arm. Professor Peaks was a very attractive man, wearing long blue robes; he had blonde hair, green eyes, and big eyebrows. All the girls 'owed' and 'aared' at him, I even stared at him for ages. He had a beaming perfect smile on his face, looking around the hall. He sat down again as Dumbledore spoke. "He will be teaching you all Defence against the Dark Arts this year. I hope this year is full of happiness, friendships and joy. As usual Mr. Filtch asks that you do not enter the Forbidden Forest, or try to swim in the Black Lake. Pupils, every New Year, brings new challenges that you must overcome… And to do so, you must study hard, keep your head in those books, and stick at it. Now, let's eat!"

He sat down once again, and the feast appeared. The food was always spectacular; there was broccoli, roast potatoes, chicken, turkey, peas, steak, chips, Yorkshire puddings, gravy, roast vegetables, lamb, fish, pumpkin juice, butter bear and so much more. Everyone piled their plates up, and stuffed it all down. Everything was always cooked perfectly. The potatoes were nice and crispy, the chicken was moist, and everything was completely spectacular. When everyone's plates were cleared Dumbledore snapped his fingers, and desert appeared. As if I wasn't completely full, there was more. I still ate some though. There was sticky toffee pudding, lemon meringue pie, chocolate fudge cake, crème brule and lots more. I had a HUGE slice of strawberry cheesecake. It was delicious; it had a digestive base, a thick yet light crème cheese filling, topped with sweet raspberry coolie…

The next morning I woke up again by a flash of green light. As I opened my eyes, for a couple of seconds I wondered where I was. I was lying in a four poster bed, with pink drapes around it. There were four other people in the room, Hannah, Louise, Mary and Rosie; they were all fast asleep, Hannah snores echoed loudly around the room. They were all tucked into four poster beds as well, with the same pink drapes hanging around the edges of the frame. I wiped my eyes, and stretched out my arms high above my head. I swung my legs out of bed and slowly stood up. I put on my fluffy purple slippers and walked down the stairs into the common room.

"Sirius. Where did you go" said a voice from the other side of the room.

"Harry?" I said. The person crouching by the fire turned sharply around.

"Oh. Hi Ginny…."

"Harry, what where you doing?"

"Umm…."

"Harry?"

"I was talking to Sirius"

"Was he here? Did he use flu powder?"

"No, he comes through the fire!"

"What. How?"

"I don't really know!"

"Oh… Okay" It was silent and awkward in the room, until.

"Harry… Harry?" Ron came stumbling downstairs, putting on his dressing gown.

"Ron. What is it?" Harry said when Ron had come to the bottom of the stone steps.

"Ginny. Why are you up so early?"

"I could say the same thing" I said, glaring at him.

"Ron. What is it?" said Harry breaking up the argument.

"Oh. Well, Hedwig flew through the window with this" Ron passed a scruffy bit of parchment to Harry.

"What does it say?" I asked. Harry opened it carefully, and read it, his eyes zooming from left to right.

"Harry. What does it say?" I asked again.

"It's Hagrid!"

"What does it say" I asked once again!

"Dear Harry, Since I know you don't have any lessons today, I was wondering if you, Ron and of course Hermione would come down to my house at lunch. From Hagrid"

"Oh Okay"

"He made a lot of spelling mistakes though"

"Did he…? Shocking" said Ron

"Yeah, unless Harry can be spelt H-A-R-R-I-E!"

In twenty minutes, everyone was in the common room! Chatting, stoking the fireplace, and laughing. Fred and George were circling the room with their early selling plans, holding their Skiving Snack Boxes, selling them to easily lead first years… And Nevel Longbottom.

Hannah, Mary, Louise and I were huddled around the fire place in the comfy red armchairs that squeaked every time we made the slightest movement. Ron, Hermione and Harry were sitting around the wizard chess board. Ron was obviously going to beat Harry, but I guess Ron either liked to humour him with a game, or Ron would play Harry so he could continually beat him and gloat about it afterwards. I kept turning to look at Harry, hoping he would come over and talk to me; he didn't look once whilst playing Ron at chess. I could see frustration lines deepen in his forehead as he continually focused on the chess board, as Ron destroyed his chess piece.

"So, what did you do in the holidays Mary?" Louise asked. My head jerked around, as if Louise had been talking to me. I had forgotten my friends around me since I was memorizing Harry's face, over and over again.

"Nothing much. I went to Turkey with Mum, then to Devon with my Dad, and his girlfriend… I had half a mind to zap her with some kind of spell. Just how she talks to him, its' infuriating, and sounds like she owns him, she just orders him around. Ugh." She made a disgusted noise, and then went back to playing snap with Hannah.

"What about you Hannah?" Louise questioned. Ignoring Mary's angry murmuring about her father's girlfriend.

"Nothing, apart from staying at Ginny's for a couple of nights" Hannah answered.

"Yeah. That was fun wasn't it Hannah" I said, still looking at Harry. We were all silent for a long time. I was looking in ore at Harry and Ron reassemble the chess pieces.

"SNAP" Screamed Mary. I leapt out of my seat and gasped. I looked around, everyone else had the same reaction, they were staring at Mary, who was now standing, and holding the card pile in her hands above her head. She went bright red as she scanned the room in shock, not realizing that the whole common room had gone quiet. She slowly sat back down on the floor, burying her head in her arms. I lowered myself back into my seat, focusing my eyes on the flames, whipping around and around the logs in the grate. My eyes suddenly felt very heavy. They were drooping more and more, they closed every so often, until they entirely shut.

_Suddenly I was running through a dimly lit room, I could only see blackness in front of me, there were lights on the walls, which switched on as I ran past. There was a ticking noise behind me; I suddenly noticed there was someone's heavy breathing beside me. But I knew I wasn't running from them, I was running from someone who was chasing the two of us. The person behind us was only walking; we didn't need to run very fast. But without even turning around, I knew that he was the most terrifying sight I would ever see. In front of me, I saw a brick wall straight ahead of me. A dead end…  
I reached the wall in seconds, I turned, my back to the cold hard stone. A clocked figure crept slowly towards me, and the person next to me. I didn't turn to see who was next to me; my eyes were focused on the white face that stood out against the black. They reached a hand out towards me; he was close enough to touch me when suddenly…_

"Ginny?" I flinched as a hand stroked my cheek. Everything around me was blurry; I blinked quickly, and stretched my arms and legs. My eyes focused on Harry's face. His hand still brushing my cheek. "Ginny. Are you okay?"

"What time is it?" I asked, without answering his question.

"Three. You must have been very tired" He said, a crooked smile on his face. I looked around the now deserted common room.

"Oh gosh. Has everyone gone to Dinner?"

"Yep. Sorry I woke you… I wanted to take you to dinner, and… umm… you screamed in your sleep. I was worried."

"Yeah. Sorry…. Bad dream"

"D'you want to tell me about it?"

"No. its okay" I especially didn't want Harry to know about my dream. I am sure the man walking towards me was Voldemort, and Harry would be terrified with that.

"Okay. If you sure" Harry dropped his hand from my face, and placed it on my knee.  
"Come on, before Ron eats everything"

I nodded in agreement, stood up, and followed him, hand in hand through the common room door.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Hey Ginny." Said Josie and Ben Frankfield in unison, as they looked up at me from the Hufflepuff table. They stood up, Josie hugged me gently, but Ben lifted me into a huge bear hug that felt like it broke my ribs.

"Can't… I can't breathe Ben. Let go" I breathed. Ben placed me back on the floor, a smirk on his face.

"How was your holiday then?" I gasped, still regaining my breath.

"Good. We went to Barbados with our parents to see our big sister Lily." Josie said.

"Yeah. Josie here fainted after we landed from the port key" Ben said, nudging his sister in the ribs. She glared back at him, with such disgust in her eyes, like she would punch him if teachers weren't only a couple of meters in front of her.

"Ginny!" Amanda yelled, getting up from the Ravenclaw table. Her little brunette hair bob bounced as she skipped towards me. She was closely flanked by her two best friends Carly and Tia. They glowered at me; my face was perfectly calm as I stared back at them. They hated me for being friends with Harry.

I sat down opposite Hannah, and in-between Mary and Louise. I piled my plate up with chicken, potatoes, peas, runner beans, gravy, Yorkshire puddings and other delicious food. I finished my food, completely clearing my plate. I looked up the table to find Harry looking back at me. I smiled at him, before his face was hidden behind a three foot pile of profiteroles. I was surrounded by the most mouth watering deserts ever. There were doughnuts, triple chocolate fudge cake, brownies, Victoria sponge and steamed pudding, draped with golden syrup. The usual chatter carried on around me, I occasionally answered with a nod, or a short comment, but my eyes were locked on the table. Not allowing myself to stare into the eyes that were focused on my neck, the ones I had injured on the train. I knew Draco Malfoy wanted revenge, and I knew he would stop at nothing to seek it…

I walked up the grand staircase, not feeling tired at all, but I wanted to go with Harry, Ron and Hermione down to Hagrid's hut. I followed the three of them up the stairs, which I still found un-nerving, since no one could ever know where they would lead you to. Half the time you had to guess. Luckily Harry, after all the times he has sneaked out of the dormitory to search the castle, knew pretty much where to go. He called  
'Liquorish Wand' at the familiar fat lady; she opened the door to reveal the small passage way that led to the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione and I left Harry and Ron at the staircase, when we broke off to go into the girl's dormitory to collect out waterproof jackets and boots.

"Ginny?" Hermione called over her trunk lid.

"Yes" I answered.

"Are you…?"

"Am I what?" I prompted.

"Are you and Harry secretly dating?" she said hurriedly, before looking down into her trunk again.

"No" I answered simply; I copied her action by looking into my trunk as well. It was silent for a long time.

"Why would you think we are...?" I asked curiously.

"Just… General wonderment…. He likes you, you know" This particular comment shocked me; I slammed the trunk lid down, narrowly missing my finger tips.

"WHAT?" I said sternly back to her. Hermione's face was shocked, and half scared as I walked towards her, frustrated. How did she know this?  
"WHAT?" I asked again.

"Well… Ron said he did…. I don't know. I will ask him later if you want."

"Really? What exactly did he say to Ron?"

"Umm… I don't know exactly."

"OKAY. A brief version"

"Something about, he LIKES you… And Ron wasn't happy. Ron was obviously annoyed. But I think he's okay with it now."

"Yeah. Ask him later." I said. Trying to sound uninterested again.

"Alright." Hermione said, taking her willies out of her trunk. She put them on, and I put on mine. I grabbed my parka jacket, and followed her back downstairs. Ron and Harry were talking to each other quietly, and they stopped suddenly, and turned to stare at us as we came into their view. We walked to the Grand Hall and out the huge wooden door silently. We started talking again when we were a little closer to Hagrid's small hut.

"Do you guys think Hagrid will offer us those rock cakes…? Because, well, I can't refuse them, but my body cannot digest them at all. Their actually rocks!" Hermione asked, looking at Ron.

"He proberly will have something to eat. Hopefully not those cakes. Because like you said they are actually rocks. No cake involved." We all chuckled when Ron said that.

"Shh. Hagrid might hear you Ron. Don't be too nasty to him. He means well" I said, slightly scowling at him. We walked further down the wet path, till we reached Hagrid's door. Ron knocked heavily on the door, on the second knock; Hagrid's great big hand pulled open the door.

"'ello Harry, Hermione, Ron, oh. And of course Ginny!" Hagrid's familiar rough voice bellowed, and echoed around the school grounds.

"Hello Hagrid" We said in unison.

"How are ya lot?"

"Good, yeah. Thanks Hagrid. Yourself?" Harry said a smile on his face.

"I'm alright" He said. "Come on inside all of you. You'll freeze out there, there's a storm coming" We all clambered inside the small cabin. There was the familiar smell of Hagrid's cooking wafted up my nose.

"Hope they're not rock cakes" Ron whispered to us, so Hagrid couldn't hear.

"What are you cooking Hagrid?" Hermione asked, in answer to Ron's comment.

"Rock Cakes. Would you like one?"

"Wishful thinking I guess" Ron muttered.

As we walked back up the path, narrowly avoiding Malfoy as he came up behind us, we walked into the courtyard. Fred and George were still selling their skiving snack boxes. It was getting very late, and Hagrid had been right about the storm. Thunder rumbled above our heads, and lightning flashed shockingly. Ron and Hermione were talking to each other quietly, Harry and I walked a few meters back from them. Harry's hand slipped gently into mine, I flinched a little at the cold of his fingers, but I suppose my hands weren't warm either. Ron looked around, and turned his nose up as his eyes wandered to our linked hands. He swiftly turned his head back around to look in front of him. I blushed bright red as I remembered the look of disgust on his face. Harry chuckled quietly next to me at Ron's expression.

"Oi , a mud blood and TWO blood-traitors. Ugh. And Potter. There's a repulsive sight you don't see every day, Right Crab?"

Crab and Goil grunted behind us. I turned to look at them; they were all smirking at us. Malfoy in the middle, being flanked by his two large best friends. I let Harry's hand drop out of mine, and pulled my wand out from under my jacket. I gripped the handle tightly, and slowly pointed the tip at Malfoy.

"Calm down Ginny. Don't let him get to you" Harry softly whispered in my ear.

"This is for the train!" Malfoy yelled. "INCARSARUS" Thousands of thick ropes flew out of Malfoy's wand and zoomed forward in my direction. I stood my ground, ready to watch a fight break out, but before I could blink, Harry's hand pushed hard against my waist. I slid across the stone on my back to the wall on the right. Harry now had his wand out, he was firing red streams of light over into Malfoy's direction. Crab and Goil joined in now, their magic was very basic, but they seemed to hit Harry, but he showed no reaction. Hermione whipped out her wand, and Ron did the same. Bursts of light flashed and lit up the entire court yard.  
"LEVICORPUS" yelled two familiar voices from behind Harry, Ron and Hermione. Fred and George came running up, firing purple rays of light at Malfoy, Crab and Goil's hanging bodies. They were screaming as they couldn't get down, they were hung up by invisible ropes by their feet. Their faces were red as the blood ran to their head. Fred and George's familiar laughter sounded as they gloated their victory to Malfoy. Fred and George looked at each other, nodded then raised their wands again.  
"Jellyting" they called out. A single ray of blue light fired at Malfoy, Goil and Crab. They fell onto the cold stone floor, scrambled around trying to pick up their wants to continue the fights, but they were incapable. Their fingers were literally like jelly, like the bones had been entirely removed, the fingers drooped sadly down. They still crawled around helplessly. Harry reached out his hand to me again, I took it and stood up.

"Are you okay Ginny. I am so sorry that I pushed you, it's just I saw that he was going to cast a spell at you, and I didn't want it to hit you…"

"Harry. I'm fine. Thank you. Even though I would have liked to cast a spell at him." I turned to glare at Malfoy, and then looked back at Harry with softer eyes.

Fred and George loudly cleared their throats. "You're welcome by the way" Fred said.

"Yeah. Thanks. A lot. I owe you both one" Ron said, putting his wand back in his pocket.

"What are we going to do with, _them_" I said, tilting my head in Malfoy's direction.

"Leave them, that's my answer" Ron said, glowering at them.

"Sounds good to me" I said, taking Harry's hand in mine, and lead him away.

"What!" Fred loudly whispered to Ron and Hermione. "Are they going out… That's new"

"No they're not going out… yet" Ron said in a malicious voice. I turned to glare at him. A reddish haze appeared around him, this shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did.

"Calm down Ginny" Ron said, a half grin on his face. The red haze got deeper and deeper red, everything around him disappeared, except for him.

"Ginny where are we going?" Harry said, breaking my focus on Ron. He didn't seem to have heard Ron and Fred's exchange of words.

"Don't mind, Just so long as we're away from Malfoy."

"Yeah."

"I hate him"

"Join the club."

"Join it. I'm basically the founder." Harry chuckled next to me, I joined in laughing as well.

"Then what happened?" Hannah said eagerly. Sitting on the edge of her bed, her head in her hands.

"Nothing really. We just talked for ages, laughed. Gossiped, hugged, and just… things like that!"

"Are you going out with him now then?" Louise said.

"Not properly. We're close..."

I was cut off by Hannah saying; "DID YOU KISS HIM?"

"NO! I would have said"

"You're so lucky Ginny. I wish I was you sometimes" said Danielle, sitting on the opposite side of the room. She was carefully brushing her long blonde hair, staring in the full length mirror.

"Me too Ginny" Mary said.

"Me three" Louise said.

There as a knock at the dormitory door.

"Yes." I called towards the door. Daisy Timber, a girl in the year above me, walked through the door slowly; She had a huge grin on her face. "Everyone, can you please leave. I want to talk to Ginny privately"

"Why don't you talk to her in the common room?" Louise snapped at Daisy.

"Because loads of people are down there, I said privately, not with other people around!" Daisy yelled back.

"But this is our room…"

"FINE!" Daisy yelled. Her face red with anger, everyone hates Daisy. "Ginny. Please come with me" I reluctantly got up and followed her out the dormitory, out the door, and up two flights of stairs. She began going up another flight, when she suddenly turned on the third step, forcing me to step back. This particular stair case was stationary, unlike the other moving ones. "We're almost there Ginny." She turned back around, and stormed up the stairs.

"Where exactly are we going Daisy." She was silent, and avoided my question. She continued down a corridor, and through a wooden door, into a small room, that looked like an abandoned classroom. She shut the door after me, and turned to glower at me.

"Right Ginny" she said sternly. "I hear you're dating Harry"

"No. I'm not dating him… We're just really good friends"

"NOT WHAT I HEAR!" She yelled in my face.

"Daisy, trust me. We aren't dating. I promise"

"Well. DON'T even think about dating him. It's a big castle… Accidents happen"

"What you love Harry?"

"Just don't date him. Swear on it."

"I'm not swearing about anything, or promising."

"I would think about that if I were you." She swiftly turned on her heels, and walked out the room. Her black hair whipped around the door, and she left.

I glared at the place where she had left. I walked out of the door after her. I was insanely angry with her. How DARE she tell me not to date Harry. She had no chance with him anyway. Next time I see her, I will duel her. That should be fun!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

One week later, my temper hadn't gotten any better. I had been in around fifteen fights, even Hannah was wary of me now. But she hung around me still, just to be close to Harry. Harry still hadn't asked me out, or kissed me or anything… But I'm hoping he would soon. I was with him, Ron and Hermione almost all the time. Ron was getting better at Quiditch, so was I. Even Harry seemed to be improving with all the extra practice we were getting training Ron to be a better keeper! I was still a chaser, and our next Quiditch match against Slytherin was soon. But most of the chasers wouldn't dare pick on me. Actually, they seemed scared of me…

I walked down the dormitory stares, to find Harry at the bottom.

"Good Morning Ginny" Harry said as soon as he noticed me.

"Morning Harry" I said, stretching my arms above my head. I pulled on my dressing gown on properly, and went over to hug him. The hug was long, but stopped as soon as Daisy walked into the room. I hadn't been alone with her yet, so I hadn't been able to duel her as I hoped I would have. I had told Harry about her threat, and about my plan… He didn't think that I should bother, but it didn't stop me trying to 'talk' to Daisy alone.

"Where's Ron" I asked. I hated being around Harry with Ron about… It was so awkward with his grossed out noises and, he has been very flirty with Hermione, which made me feel ill myself. They weren't a good couple; they were barley compatible as friends. I still didn't really like Hermione, I actually don't know why; she seems to never be nasty to me in anyway. But she still irritated me, just how she talks to Ron, it's sickening sometimes.

"No. He didn't feel very well; I think he has a cold!"

"Did he go to Madame Pomfrey?"

"No. He didn't want to get up."

"Lazy Ron" I said with a small smile on my face. He lightly chuckled.

"Lessons today… Finally" Harry said.

"Yeah. It was weird that we had a whole week to get used to the school. Pretty cool."

"Yep. It's been a good week!" Harry said. He was silent for a long time. He never looked at me in the eyes for a whole three minutes.

"Harry?"

"Yes" He answered.

"Are you alright? You seem a little down."

"I'm fine." I looked at his eyes, looking to see if he was lying to me.

"Honestly. I'm fine Ginny" Harry said, looking me straight in the eyes.

"Okay. I believe you." I said with a grin on my face.

Louise and I bustled into Defence Against The Dark Arts. Along with the rest of the class. All the girls were anxious to see Professor Peaks again, all of them in love with him straight away. We sat at the desks, looking at the front, in anticipation to meet the new teacher. He didn't enter for a long time, we started to get impatient, and then we saw him. He strolled down the familiar staircase that I had seen Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers walk down again, and again. I remembered my first class with Lupin, Lockheart and the Moody imposter. But this was different. Lupin had already been standing at the front, Lockheart had glided down the steps, Moody had stormed in from the back off the class room, to the front, before throwing a black board rubber at Thomas Gibbs, a boy in my class. But Professor Peaks walked quickly down the stairs, with a certain grace as he moved. The girls all 'oohed and aared', except for me. I didn't find him THAT attractive. I didn't see the great attraction. He wasn't that amazing. I turned to look at Louise, but she, like all the other girls, had a beaming smile on her face, aimed straight at Professor Peaks.

He stopped halfway down the steps, and smiled really widely. He gazed around the class, lifted his hands off the stone banister, and said:

"Well. Hello Class"

"Hello" Everyone answered back. I looked around at the faces off my classmates. How did that all do that at the same time, when it didn't even dawn on me to?

"Looking forward to Defence Against The Dark Arts I see." He smiled again, and carried on. "We will be doing some advanced things this year, which I am sure you will all enjoy." Everyone's smile got bigger when he said this. He took out his wand, twirled it around, and books flew from behind him, and landed perfectly on our desks. With another flick of his wand, the books all opened onto page 117.

"Dementors? Why are we learning about them? We were learning about Firepixies, Tinklepunks and Doormonsters last year. This is a LOT more advanced Sir." Rosie Crenchore's voice called out from the back of the class.

"Yes. Yes it is a lot more advanced. But I think you are all capable of it. Don't you?" Rosie blushed behind me, and looked at the table, since Professor Peaks was looking right at her as he made this comment.

"Alright. Who would like to read the first paragraph?" He asked, scanning the classroom for willing volunteers.

"Me Sir. Me, me, me" called a babble of excited girls voices.

"Okay… Umm.. YOU" He called, pointing straight at Betty Fetter.

She put on a pair of glasses and began to read the text: "Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, and they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. Even Muggles feel their presence, though they can't see them. Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself...soul-less and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life…. Written By Remus Lupin. Professor Lupin was that?" Everyone had very confused expressions on their faces.

"That's right. Your old Professor wrote that snippet, and the next paragraph that we will read."

"Wow. Impressive" Betty said, before blushing again.

"Anyone want to read the next paragraph?" he asked. More class members put their hands up this time. "YOU" He said over the babble of noise from the pupils, this time Tia began reading.

"They feed on positive human emotions; a large crowd is like a feast to them. They drain a wizard of his powers if left with them too long. They are the guards at Azkaban and make that place horrible indeed. There are certain defences one can use against Dementors, specifically the Patronus Charm. A Dementor's breath sounds rattling and like it's trying to suck more than air out of a room. Its hands are glistening, greyish, slimy-looking, and scabbed"

"Yes. Yes. The Patronus Charm. Has anyone ever heard of that spell before?"

"I have" I called out. People stared at me, before agreeing with me.

"Can anyone cast the spell?" Everyone shook their heads.

"No. It is very advanced. I only know of one _child_ who can perform this very charm at this school. _Harry Potter._ I know you all know about him." His voice broke on the words 'child', and 'Harry Potter', which made me a little uneasy. All the pupils nodded in agreement about knowing Harry.

"Well, I am going to teach you the Patronus Charm!"

"Why? Dementors aren't supposed to attack mere students, or anyone who isn't a criminal." Thomas Gibbs said.

"You can never be too sure, Mr. Gibbs, is it?"

"Yes Sir" Thomas said, blushing crimson.

"Right. Class, first. I know it is very dull, but I would like it if you could take your quill and ink out, and copy in the paragraph in the text book. Thank you" We obediently copied the text out in silence. The only noise was the gentle sound of quill tips scratching against parchment.

"Everybody finished?" Professor Peaks asked us. In answer we put down out quills.

"Right. Come to the front, all of you" We walked to the front of the classroom to stand by his side. He flicked his wand again, and the tables swooped around the room and stacked themselves neatly around the sides of the room.

"Does anybody know the words you say when you are casting the Protronus Charm" I nervously put my hand up.

"Yes. Weasly is it?"

"Yes Sir. Ginny"

"Go on then Ginny" He said with a blinding smile on his face.

"Is it Expecto Patronum?"

"Very good Ginny. Very good. Ten points to Gryffindor." I felt pats on my back from fellow Gryffindors. Professor Peaks pointed his wand straight ahead of him, waved it above his head, and swished it down, and said sternly "Expecto Patronum" A white light shot out of the tip of his wand, in mid air it turned into an eagle, which swooped around the room, before disappearing.

"WOW" the class said. There was rounds of applause from the class. Professor Peaks bowed, chuckling next to me.

"That is what you will all be able to do soon!" He smiled shockingly. "Honestly. I will teach you, so you can ALL do that! But of course, you will proberly have different animals."

"What will we have sir?" Rosie Crenchore called out.

"I don't know. There is no way of knowing what animal it will be. Apart from seeing it when you cast the spell" We all nodded in understanding.

"Right. Move into a space, make sure your not close to anyone" We did as told.

"Now. We need to practice the arm movement. You need to swirl the wand around your head like so, then point it and say 'Expecto Patronum.'. Like so." He demonstrated again. We copied… With failed attempts.

"I'm glad Hermione Granger isn't in our year. She would show us all up wouldn't she" Betty muttered to Rosie. After about half an hour of casting the spell, with no proper outcomes, the bell rang around the castle.

"That's all for today class. You are dismissed" There was a huge noise as everyone grabbed their bags and ran out of the classroom. I decided to wait till everyone had gone, before I tried to leave.

"Ginny?" Someone called behind me. I turned to see Professor Peaks standing right behind me.

"Yes Sir" I said with a puzzled expression on my face.

"Your friends with Harry Potter, correct?"

"Yes Sir" I said again.

"Well, could you please ask him to come up and talk to me soon.

"Are you not teaching him today?"

"No. Not till next week."

"Oh. Yes. Is there any specific reason why you want to speak to Harry?"

"No. I just want to meet him, he is fascinating to me." His voice was almost bitter as he said that.

" Okay Sir. I will try. Do you want to speak to him here?"

"Yes, in my office. Just up those stairs" He gestured to the door he had come out of at the beginning of the lesson."

"Ok."

"Did you enjoy the lesson Ginny?"

"Yes. It was fun. But I am hopeless at the spell."

"No you're not. You're the most advanced in the class. I bet next lesson you will have it nailed. I could give you private tuition if you want."

"That's okay thank you Sir. I will see you, Friday, that's our next lesson I think."

"Right." He beamed his

I turned, put my bag on my shoulder, and walked out the classroom. I could feel his eyes on my neck, making my hairs stand on end.

We had Herboligy, followed by Divination, then Transfiguration, and finally Charms. As we left Charms, Harry caught up with me, Ron and Hermione trailing behind him.

"Hi Ginny"

"Hey Harry"

"How are you Ginny" Hermione asked politely.

"I'm okay thanks. You?"

"Okay. Potions was a pain though."

"You didn't get hit with a book though Hermione" Ron said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Suppose that's an upside. I didn't have it as bad as you" She said. Ron and Hermione chuckled.

"Shall we go somewhere else? It's a little crowded in here" Harry whispered in my ear.

"Okay." I followed him to the Owlery, where Hedwig was waiting in anticipation, with a letter tied to her claw. Hermione and Ron followed shortly after, sighing loudly.

"Hedwig, hello" Harry said, walking straight over to her, and stroking her snow white feathers. She lifted her foot, and offered Harry the parchment. "Thank you." Harry took the parchment, carefully unfolded it, whilst saying. "Hedwig why didn't you bring it at breakfast, then he sighed as he read it slowly.

"Whose it from?" Ron asked.

"Sirius"

"What does it say?" I asked.

"Hello Harry. Sorry I asked Hedwig to bring you this privately, and not as breakfast mail, since people still think I'm a criminal. I wanted to ask how Hogwarts is going. Hope your well. Sirius."

"That's sweet" Hermione said.

"There's more." Said Harry, before chuckling quietly. "p.s. I might strangle Creature soon. He is so moaning and dull, He better watch his back." Ron laughed, Hermione giggled.

"Shall we go to dinner?" Hermione asked. Her stomach rumbled quietly, she giggled again. "I'm hungry"

"You don't say" Ron joked as her stomach rumbled again.

"Okay. Let's go" Harry held my hand as we walked to the great hall.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"I don't know. It seems a little, odd" Harry said, shaking his head over the mountain of toast in front of him.

"Come on Harry. He's not evil or anything. He's a good teacher" I said.

"Yeah. But why? I don't want to be 'interesting', like a subject, any more than I have to at least"

"Pass the pumpkin juice Ginny" Ron said, with a mouthful of scrambled eggs. I turned my nose up at the food spitting out of his mouth, before passing him the juice.

"Come on Harry. I'll go with you" I said.

"Fine, if it will make you happy" Harry said, a smile stretched across his face.

"Oh Ronald, were you born in a pigsty" Fred said, walking past Ron, using Mum's scolding tone.

"Shut up" Ron said, punching Fred on the shoulder.

"Budge up Hermione" George said before sitting between Hermione and Lee Jordon. Fred and George happily chatted to Lee, turning away from us.

"Why does Professor Peaks want to talk to Harry anyway Ginny" Ron said, still with a mouthful of food.

"I have no idea. He just said that he finds Harry fascinating…" I gazed up at the Teacher Table, It scared me when I noticed Professor Peaks was gazing right back at me, like he had heard me talking about him. I frowned in his direction, and turned back to Harry.

"So you're going to go" I said .

"Yeah. I guess."

"When do you want to go?"

"Tonight. Proberly. I will meet you in the common room straight after lessons, we'll go up then. Okay?"

"Sounds good" I said smiling. Finally, some time with Harry without Ron and Hermione following us everywhere.

All day I had looked forward to going to Professor Peaks office with Harry – even though Professor Peaks scared me a little - it's the only thing that kept me awake in Herboligy. I went to the common room as quickly as possible. Harry was waiting for me by the fire, a smile crept eagerly onto his face when he saw me.

"Good Evening" He said.

"Hey" I ran straight over to him, about to hug him. He lifted me off the ground, into a huge bear hug. I clasped my hands around his neck, he held me away for a while, then placed me back onto the ground. In the corner of my eye I saw Daisy glower at me from the opposite corner of the room. I just kept looking at Harry. He gripped my hand, and led me out the door to Professor Peaks class room. We stopped outside, I saw a flicker of anxiousness shine across his eyes. He looked at me, worried.

"You're sure he's nice." Harry asked.

"Of course. I wouldn't let you go near him if he wasn't" He looked a little more reassured, he turned towards the door, lifted his hand to knock it, before his knuckled could tap on the wood the door swung open to reveal Professor Peaks standing there – good looking as ever, almost too young to be a teacher - gazing at Harry, not even sparing a glance at me.

"Harry Potter. Harry Potter. Come in please, come in, come in" Harry shared a glance with me, and then followed Professor Peaks into the classroom. We were silent as we went up the stairs and into his office. Professor Peaks sat in a cushy green armchair, there were two seats on the opposite side of the oak table, nearest the door. Harry and I took our seats. We gazed around the office. It was a small room, with very little furniture. It had thousands of pictures of loads of famous witches and wizards, including Professor Peaks, which I felt was very vain. As I thought this, he smirked at me.

"Harry. Harry Potter" Sir said.

"Yes" Harry said calmly.

"How are you my boy?"

"I'm alright thank you. Yourself?"

"I'm fantastic my boy, fantastic" It was silent for a long time, Professor Peaks gazed at Harry, but me and Harry did all we could not to look at him the eyes.

"So I hear you can do the Protronus Charm Harry"

"Yes. I can" Harry said, still not looking into Peaks' eyes. I was shocked at the direction the talk had gone. Very sudden.

"Could you show me?" He said with an eager smile on his face.

"Now?" Harry asked, confused.

"If that is okay with you?"

"Okay. Shall I cast it in the classroom?"

"I'm sure here will be satisfactory"

"Sure" Harry stood up, took out his wand, and cast Expecto Patronum. Rays of white light flew out of the wands tip, they circled each other, before turning into a beautiful stag. The stag cantered and charged around the room, then disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

"Excellent my boy. Excellent" Peaks said, with a hint of sarcasm, and a tad of bitterness in his tone.

"Thank you" Harry said, obviously not hearing Peak's tone. He put his wand back under his cloak.

"A stag. Interesting."

"Yeah. My dad had the same animal"

"Yes. I remember"

"Remember?"

"Yes. I went to Hogwarts at the same time as your father"

"Oh."

"Yes. James Potter" He said, in a sour voice. Harry and I exchanged a glance of confusion, then looked back at Peaks.

"Were you friends then?"

"Umm. Not really. I am two years younger. I was on the Slytherin Quiditch team, who played against James a lot" Harry and I winced at the word Slytherin.

"Ah. Okay."

"Your father knocked me off my broom once. I landed on the ground, broke all the bones down my left side" Harry looked at the floor, so did I.

"I'm sorry" Harry mumbled quietly.

"It's okay Harry. I was friends with Snape though"

"Snape? Professor Snape?" I said with obvious disgust in my voice.

"Yes. The same Snape"

"So you've got a good friend in the teachers then" I said. It wasn't a question, it as a statement.

"Well no. Not really. There was an incident, in Hogwarts… We haven't been that good friends since…"

"What was the incident?" I blurted out. He turned to glare at me.

"It's late. You two should go to bed" He said quickly, he was worrying that he had said too much to us. I sat there, looking at Peaks. Staring into his eyes, wondering what had happened.

"Okay. Well… Goodbye Sir" Harry said, grabbing my hand, and towing me towards the door. I reluctantly allowed Harry to drag me away, he pulled me out the door into the corridor before he turned to look at me. That was so quick. Did he get to the point? Why did he want to see Harry's protronus? Is he to be trusted? What was the incident?

"I don't trust him" said Harry.

"Neither do I… Well, not anymore"

"I wonder what that 'incident' was"

"I'm not sure… But I'm going to find out" I whispered.

"It could be anything Ginny. It could just be a fall out… It could be anything" Hermione said.

"Yes. But it has to be something important, otherwise why wouldn't he tell us?"

"Maybe it's embarrassing." Ron said laughing.

"Check" Harry said, moving his knight into position on the chess board.

"Taken" Ron said, moving his queen so that it whacked Harry's knight of the board.

"Come on Ron. It can't be something just embarrassing. It must be more exciting…. Or… It's just got to be… Something"

"Don't be so paranoid Ginny."

"I'M NOT BEING PARANOID. It's just, Defence of the Dark Arts teachers, are either Good or their bad. Never in between. Remember Moody… Well the imposter Moody, was evil. Lupin was good. Lockheart was a lying cheat. And Professor Peaks is evil…"

"You don't know that Ginny. There is proberly a reasonable excuse why he wouldn't tell you" Hermione said, shutting the huge book she had been resting on her knee

"HERMIONE. WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND"

"You don't understand either. You don't know what the incident was. You can't possibly know."

"Ugh" I was quiet for a long time. Just listening to their convocation pick up.

"What's the time Ron" Hermione asked.

"10:23" Ron answered, before taking Harry's queen.

"How do you do that?" Harry asked, astonished.

"It's a gift I guess"

"Ugh" I said again, tired of Ron's constant bragging in front of Hermione.

"I'm going to bed. It's late" Hermione said, yawning.

"I'm right there with you" I said, glowering at Daisy, on the other side of the room.

"Goodnight Ginny. Night Hermione" Harry said, smiling widely at me.

"Night Harry" I said, smiling back. I walked up the stairs to the dormitory. I got into my PJs, and climbed into bed. I fell asleep almost instantly. I had the Voldemort dream again, when he is walking towards me. This was a daily occurrence now, and the dream got a little longer each time. It was really scary now, it worried me. Why did I keep having this dream? Does it mean something?

Someone lent over me, shaking my shoulder gently. Lifting me from my unconscious.

"Wake up Ginny. Shhhh" A calming voice whispered in my ear.

"Hermione?" I spoke into the blackness.

"Yes. Shhhh. Everyone else is asleep."

"What are you doing? Why aren't you in bed"

"Harry and Ron told me to come and get you"

"Oh. What do _they_ want then?"

"I'm not sure, I've just been told to get you. You need to get dressed apparently"

"Okay. What's the time?"

"3:30am"

"What. Oh this is ridiculous"

"Yep, just get up Ginny"

"Fine" I said sternly, still tired. I clambered out of bed, and opened my trunk, and got into some jeans and a t-shirt. I pulled my cloak out, and wore that as well. I walked across the room to look out of the window. It was damp grass, so I put on some wellies as well. I tiptoed out the room, and down to the common room.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione?" I whispered. There was no answer. "Hello?" I said, a little louder. No reply again. I turned round and round, gazing into the darkness. Suddenly someone clasped their hand over my mouth. I was trying to scream but I couldn't. I struggled, but they had a firm hold. I sniffed, and smelt the familiar smell of my home… Ron. Great. He still wouldn't let go, he just held me there, holding tighter as I struggled harder. A red haze clouded my view of the circular room. A rush of anger filled my veins, I shoved my elbow as hard as I could into Ron's ribs, lifted my fist so it smashed against his nose. His hands let go, and reached up to grab his nose. I turned my fists up, as if I was about to fight. I looked into his face, half covered by his hands, blood seeping through the gaps in his fingers.

"Ron" I felt a chill run up my spine, and guilt filled my stomach. I felt like I was going to be sick. My heart pounded as I saw the terrified expression in Ron's face. Hermione was by his side in an instant. Pointing her wand at his nose, muttering a charm. Ron's nose immediately stopped bleeding, and straightened on his face.

"Ron. I'm so sorry. I didn't… I didn't…" I muttered.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Ron said angrily. "Thank you Hermione by the way" His eyes filled with gratefulness as he turned his head towards Hermione, then it turned back to pure horror as he looked back at me.

"I didn't know it was you. I'm sorry" He was silent for a long time. Hermione was standing next to Ron, and Harry stood against the far wall, looking away from both Ron and me.

"Ginny. I...I…. Can't believe you"

"Ron. IM SORRY…. How many times do I have to tell you that"

"I'll tell you when you get there" Ron turned away from me towards Hermione and Harry. "Come on lets go guys. Ginny" Ron said in disgust. Hermione and Ron strolled out of the door and down the stairs. Harry looked at me meaningfully, then came over to me.

"I understand if you want to run off to those two" I said, and I gestured to the door where Ron and Hermione left. He stared deep into my eyes, then took my fist in his hand.

"I didn't know you could punch like that" he said, a crooked smile creeping onto his face. I mirrored this smile.

"Is your fist okay Ginny?"

"Yeah. It feels fine. Were you three under the invisibility cloak?"

"Yep."

"Ahh. That's why I didn't see you."

"Sorry, Ron's idea. I thought you would have realized it was him. Oh well. I understand why you punched him. I would have done the same thing if I didn't know who it was" A twinge of guilt fluttered in my body as I remembered the moment that I realized it WAS Ron.

"Yeah" I said, simply.

"Come on. Let's go before they get too far"

"Where we are actually going, no one has told me yet"

"Oh right." He took my hand properly, and lead me out the door. It shut quietly behind us.

"Shouldn't you two be asleep" the Fat Lady asked behind us. Harry looked back, and flashed a grin at her "Shouldn't you?" he asked cheekily, before carrying on walking.

"Where are we going?" I repeated.

"Oh yeah. To Hagrid's"

"Why so early?"

"Well, first, we have lessons later, and second, he asked to talk to us about something important"

"Do you know what he wants to say?"

"Nope" Harry said.

"I feel awful."

"Ill?"

"No… Not at all. I mean about punching Ron."

"Oh don't worry. He didn't bleed… much, plus Hermione cured him straight away" he said with a slight snicker. I sighed, and followed him down the stairs, and silently out of the front door.

"Shouldn't we wear the invisibility cloak Harry?" I asked when we were outside.

"Oh yeah. We should have done. But if we have gotten this far without being caught. I think we can get a little further" He said, I could hear the smile on his face. I looked around to see his teeth shine in the dark, he looked down at me, then forward again to Hagrid's hut.

"Come on. Lets carry on" I smiled at him, he was facing forward, but as we walked, I saw him gaze at me from the corner of his eye the whole way there. As we got closer to Hagrid's hut, I saw Ron in the window, looking out at us, with a disgusted look on his face. Harry sniggered at my side at Ron's expression. We got to Hagrid's door in record time, running as the rain started pouring from the cloud strewn sky. Hagrid yanked the door open as Harry knocked, he obviously wanted to talk to Harry in particular.

We sat down slowly on the small sofa, next to Ron. I had pulled my hand out of Harry's when I sat down, so Ron wouldn't feel too awkward, but Harry clasped it again, a smug smile brooding across his pale face. I kept my hand there willingly. It was quiet for a while, except for the loud scream that the kettle let out when it was boiled, whilst Hagrid was pouring five cups of tea, Hermione spoke.

"Come on Hagrid, what was this big news you wanted to tell us" Hagrid, who was already virtually bouncing up and down from excitement, turned to look at Hermione with a humungous grin on his face.

"I think it would be best if I _showed _you, instead of telling you" We all looked at each other, we were immediately worried. I looked at Harry last, he was gazing warily at Hagrid.

"What do you want to show us Hagrid?"

"Come on" He hauled Harry up, I came up too since I was linked to harry. Hermione stood up gracefully, Ron stayed sitting, but eventually slouched on after as we left the hut. We followed Hagrid over the grounds, getting more scared by the minute. I clutched Harry's arm in the dark, he was just a scared as he stood by Hagrid.

"Hagrid. You're not going to the forbidden forest are you?"

"Uhh.. Yeah"

"Hagrid!" Harry said in outrage.

"What. Harry. I know you're not supposed to, but I NEED to show you all."

"What. What do you need to show us" Hermione said, cringing back as there was a small roar from the depths of the forest.

"That" Hagrid pointed into the forest, and listened again. As a second mild roar came from the trees. Hagrid continued walking into the woods, Ron, Hermione, Harry and I stood stock still. It took Hagrid a while to realize that we weren't following anymore. He gestured for us to follow. We moved our feet slowly, if we were not completely curious about who or what Hagrid was hiding, I doubt we could have lifted our feet of the ground.

We walked for a long time, following an orange light that kept going out, and turning on again in the black. We all stumbled over the loose rocks and branches, but never tripped completely. After a few hours of walking, we made it to a small clearing, and Hagrid ordered us to stop. My eyes scanned the trees for any approaching danger, my free hand clutching my wand, I didn't know what I would do to a monster, but it gave me a brief feeling of safety. Harry clutched me tighter, and he too gazed through the forest.

Then we saw it. It came out through the singed and burnt trees, and I realized that the light, was fire, being emitted from the dragons mouth. It was huge, easily four times as big as Hagrid. Midnight black, with glistening white teeth. I hid my face is Harry's chest waiting for the attack that never came. Instead, when I gained enough courage to look up, the huge dragon was lying on the floor, near Hagrid, Hagrid's hand patting its nose.

"This, everyone. Is Norbert"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

No one could move. We stood stock still, watching the jet black dragon roaring, blowing fire at the trees, and watching them fall. The first few times the trees crashed to the ground, we flinched, but soon, we became immune to the shock. Hagrid still stood with his arm gesturing towards the huge dragon, with a brilliant gleam stretched across his red face. Hagrid's smile slowly diminished when no one said anything.

"Well come on. Someone says somethin'" We slowly moved our gaze between Hagrid and the colossal monster fifty feet in front of us.

"Ha…Hag..." Hermione stuttered.

"Hagrid. What on earth…" Ron finished her sentence.

"What are you doing with Norbert… I thought Charlie…" Harry said, not taking his eyes of Norbert.

"Charlie, as you very well know Ron, is travelling, so…."

"Charlie gave him back to you?" Ron said, interrupting him.

"No. He wouldn't. One of his friends was looking after him, then he couldn't look after him… So I offered. And he was more than happy to give him back to me"

"Hagrid… You can't.. I mean… It's too dangerous to… Hagrid" I said, not able to complete my sentences.

"Don't worry, any of you. He's perfectly safe. I promise."

"HAGRID. HE ISNT EVEN CHAINED UP" Hermione bellowed.

"Do you fink I would let him out of this forest Hermione"

"Well. It looks that way!"

"Don't worry Hermione. Charlie's friend put an, oh what's the word he used 'impenetrable force fields' around a small area - but only for the dragon. Humans can still come in and out"

"Hag…"

"No Hermione. Pupils do not come this far into the forest. Well not this far in. Don't worry about it" Hagrid cut her off.

No one had anything to say. We just stood there, the dragon had lied down, and was now snoring.

"Come on Harry. Aren't you happy at all" Harry slowly looked away from the snoring black rock that was Norbert towards Hagrid's face.

"Hagrid. Surly you can understand that we are in a little shock"

"Of course"

"Yeah. Just waiting for my heat to restart" Ron whispered in Harry's ear.

"What about you Hermione?"

"Well. Apart from this violating about a hundred school rules… It's nice to see you happy Hagrid"

"WHAT?" Harry shot a glare in Hermione's direction.

"Come on Harry. Someone with less empathy than a toad stall can see that Hagrid is ecstatic with Norbert being back

"Ugh." Harry muttered, but he relaxed his posture a little.

"Thanks Hermione. What do you think Ginny?" Hagrid surprised me by asking my opinion.

"Uhh. I think… Like Hermione said, its good. But come on. How is that" I pointed at Norbert "going to stay inconspicuous?"

"Quite simple, really. We are VERY far from Hogwarts. No one will notice him"

"Until the forest goes up in smoke from his fire" Ron said sarcastically.

"Your not going to tell anyone about him are you?" Hagrid asked, worried now.

"Of course not Hagrid" Hermione said earnestly.

"Ugh" Harry grumbled, clutching my hand tighter.

"Where did all the bad mood come from Harry" Ron said, reluctantly looking at our entwined hands.

"Just. Does Dumbledore know Hagrid?"

"Umm.. Not exactly"

"Hagrid!"

"Well, You guys had a start. Do you think Dumbledore wont. He might have a heart attack"

"Hagrid. He needs to know" Hermione piped up.

"I will tell him… eventually"

"HAGRID" We moaned in unison.

"Could you help me"

"HAGRID" We repeated.

"Sure" Hermione said. We all looked at Hermione in disbelief. Of all the people surrounding me, I thought Hermione was the one person who would not be caught in Dumbledore's office, asking him to excuse an illegal dragon, hidden in the school grounds.

"Norbert? He's back." Dumbledore just about chocked out.

"Yes" Hagrid said simply.

"But… How? When?"

"Three days ago… He was... Delivered"

"Hagrid. I cannot condone this. In the school forest" I stared at him, sitting behind his desk, still in his ruby red pyjamas, with his half moon spectacles pushed down to the end of his nose.

"Oh. Right. I'm sorry. I will return him. Boy, Reggie isn't going to be happy with me."

"Reggie?"

"Charlie's friend, he gave Norbert to me"

"Charlie? Why isn't he looking after Norbert?" Dumbledore said, looking between Ron and me. Ron shrugged, looking at the floor.

"He is travelling, so Reggie is looking after him. And, he said he couldn't look after him, so I offered… And… Here he is" Hagrid gestured out the window opposite us that looked out the forest.

"He couldn't look after Norbert?"

"No Sir" Hagrid said. Harry shifted his weight uncomfortably, and I didn't understand why. I followed his gaze out the window, and a huge flame flew up out of the forest, then disappeared as soon as it had come.

"Oh. Well. Who will Norbert go to, and be safe with?"

"I haven't thought about that Professor Dumbledore"

"Well. Until you find the perfect place for Norbert to stay, I think he could stay in the forest. On one condition."

"Yes Dumbledore, yes"

"That you allow myself to cast some spells around the forest, and a few on Norbert, to keep him, and the students safe"

"Of course"

"Okay. I will do that tomorrow, well later today actually."

"Thank you Dumbledore. Thank you" Hagrid said, bounding out the door. Dumbledore looked at us expectantly. Hermione yawned quietly, Dumbledore looked at her before saying.

"Well. I think we all need a good sleep now. Hagrid isn't good at timing"

"You got that right" Ron said, before turning to leave. Hermione followed him, and Harry next, pulling me along behind him.

"Night Dumbledore" Harry called over his shoulder. Dumbledore nodded in answer. Then turned his attention to me, proberly not realizing I was still looking at him from the corner of my eye. A look of anger, mixed with frustration flashed across his face as he looked at me back as I left his office. I was confused. Why was Dumbledore glaring at me for? What did I do wrong? Was he actually glaring at me? Or Harry?

"Tired?" Harry whispered in my ear, pulling me from my train of thought.

"Just a tad" I said, yawning.

"Sorry. It's been quite eventful hasn't it"

"That's an understatement"

"A dragon, of all of Hagrid's crazy animals…. A dragon" Harry said in disbelief.

"What. You think a dragon is worse than a brutal three headed dog?"

Harry chuckled. "It's a draw" I laughed with him as we walked, Harry supporting half my weight. My eyes were drooping, I was almost falling asleep. I felt something cold slip off my neck and fall onto the floor in front of me. "What's that?" Harry asked, as I bent down to pick my necklace off the floor.

"Oh. I found it in my house. I thought it was pretty, and it was lying next to a chain, so I put it together, and… I wanted to keep it."

"I like it" Harry said. I fumbled with the clasp, as I put it round my neck again. Harry pushed my hands carefully away, pushed my hair aside, and did up the chain, before adjusting it so the gem hung around the front. "Beautiful" He said, before smiling widely at me.

"Ginny. Where did you go last night?" Mary said over the huge rack of toast in between us, over the table.

"Huh" Was my only response. I still felt a little dazed from last night, about all the things that had changed so suddenly. I mean, there is now a dragon as a school pet.

"Where did you go? I saw you leave the dorm with Hermione, and I was going to follow, but I was too tired, then I heard a whack, and someone shout out" I suddenly remembered the punch I threw at Ron – could it only have been last night. The surge of anger that ran through me, that didn't end until I realized the pain I had caused my brother. I shivered.

"Ginny? Where did you go?"

"Umm… I went…. To the common room with Hermione" I said. My voice cracking. I never could lie convincingly.

"Is that all?"

"Yeah. I think"

"Who yelled then?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said harshly.

"Okay. Calm down Ginny."

"Ugh. I'm going to the Common Room"

"Your coming to Hogsmead later though? Right?"

"Sure. Whatever" I swung my legs out from under the table, and walked away from the table, and the faces of my friends, Mary looking shocked, like someone had just slapped her round the face.

"What's her problem?" Mary muttered when she thought I was out of ear shot.

"Yeah. I know. What do you think happened to her in the holidays. She never had such a temper before" Hannah responded.

"Yep. Something must have happened." Mary agreed.

I turned to look at them, I felt hurt, and a little betrayed. Also a weird wave of embarrassment washed over me. I was rude. I do have a short temper. Maybe, it's that Harry is confusing me. He hasn't even asked me out, and we almost kissed… What was going on in his head. Will he ask me out. I'll have to see. Maybe in Hogsmead. I need to meet up with him before we go, so I can stay with him… Will Ron have forgiven me completely by then? He has to get over it eventually…

I stalked up the grand staircase, headed for the common room.

"_Come on"_ I heard someone say behind me. I whipped around, shocked by the voice. No one stood there, not close enough that the I would have heard. The nearest people were down three floors, on lower staircases - a bunch of first year Gryffindors laughing and running down the flights of stairs. I swung back around and continued walking up. Only four more stair cases till I reach the fat lady.

"_You know what you need to do"_ The same glorious voice sounded from behind me again. I looked behind me. Was I going insane? No one was there. Hearing voices in my head… I must be crazy. I started up the stairs again.

"_Give in. Give in"_ I found myself sprinting up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I got to the fat lady, screamed the password t her, this startled her, and she swung open. I ran in, and pressed my back to the wall next to one of the huge tapestries that hung from the ceiling, waiting for the voice to start again. Nothing. No voices. No sounds except the faint crackling of the flames in the fire place. I breathed in deeply, realizing I was not alone. A pair of bright green eyes was staring at me, shocked. I relaxed my tense muscles a little as the I recognized the eyes, behind the perfect circular glasses, just below the lightning shaped scar.

"Ginny?" Harry asked warily.

"Yes" I said. He got up cautiously, and approached me with exaggerated slowness. He carefully put his arms around my neck, and held me close.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing" I muttered too quickly. I didn't convince him. He pushed me back softly, staring into my eyes. I tried not to meet his gaze, but it was next to impossible.

"Ginny? What's happened" He was suddenly worried. I racked my brain for any situation where I might react like this.

"Malfoy" I said suddenly.

"Malfoy. What did he do?"

"He tried to hurt me" I said. Surprised how real it sounded, he might even believe me.

"Is he out there now?"

"No. It was, earlier. I just ran away" Lying was becoming easier and easier.

"Don't worry. He won't hurt you again. Or I will set Ron on him." He chuckled. I joined in.

"Looking forward to Hogsmead" He said, tugging me towards the sofa where he was sitting, with his 'Charms through the ages' book.

"Yeah. Can I go with you?"

"Of course you can" He said. Leaning forward towards me. I closed my eyes slowly.

"Ugh" George said, entering the room. Harry abruptly leant back, both of us blushing scarlet. George started laughing, Fred following close behind him.

"Alright there Harry?" George said smiling.

"Don't be rude George. Give them some privacy" Hermione said, I hadn't noticed her enter. I blushed again.

"Where's Ron, Hermione?"

"No idea." Hermione said, shrugging, she went to sit in an arm chair next to the blazing fire reading a humongous book on her lap.

"When are we leaving for Hogsmead?" Fred asked George.

"In an hour. Filch is checking everyone though, to make sure we aren't taking anything 'bad' to Hogsmead?" George said, using his fingers as air quotes around 'bad'. Fred and George chuckled darkly simultaneously. Hermione shook her head at this. They ignored her, and sat down as well.

"You didn't happen to see Malfoy out there did you?" Harry asked everyone.

"Nope" Hermione said.

"Yeah. But he was being a prat, so we threw a rock at him"

"Where did you get a rock?" Hermione asked.

"We were outside at the time. He was being the cocky prat he is. And we got irritated. We made do with what we had, threw a rock at him. It was surprisingly entertaining." George said.

"Good." Harry said, smirking. "He gets what he deserves I guess"

"Damn right" Fred said smiling too.

"I'll get him again for you" Harry whispered in my ear, I could hear he was smiling, and I couldn't help smiling to. We all sat, talking, laughing and gossiping about Malfoy, and planning revenge against him. I didn't notice the time passing, until Ron ran through the door, telling us that people were leaving to go to Hogsmead. We followed him down the staircase in a hurry, I was almost sprinting. Not wanting to miss the trip, but also terrified that the voice would come back. I got out the huge front door, with no interruption in my head from that smooth luxurious voice. Filch was standing there, with an evil glare spread across his face. He searched us, with McGonagall by his side, casting spells to make sure we had no dark objects on us. Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Harry and I passed through them quickly, and travelled into Hogsmead, with huge grins on our faces, laughing the whole way there.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Oh COME ON" Ron snorted, butter bear flying out of his nose

"Yuck, Ron. Gross" Hermione and I whimpered as the drink flew over on the table towards us both. Fred, George and Harry just snickered at Ron's face, screwed up with laughter. We had been sitting inside The Three Broomsticks for hours, laughing, and still scheming about ways to hurt Malfoy.

"Anything else I can get you dears?" Madam Rosmerta said, charming a cloth mopping up the spilt butter bear.

"Umm. Six more beers please" Harry said, gesturing to the empty bottles. "Thank you" He said, whilst Madam Rosmerta collected the bottles, and took them into the back, she came back a few minutes later with new bottles. I took a mouthful from my bottle, and then set it back on the coaster in front of me. Harry's let go of my hand, which had been held between his under the table, so I looked at him confused, but he refused to meet my stare, he just looked straight at Hermione, but Hermione was staring at Ron.

"Three butter bears please" A calm musical voice asked at the counter. I looked away from Harry, past Hermione to see Cho Chang leaning against the counter, talking to Madam Rosmerta, smiling at Harry. I made a disgusted noise under my breath. Did she not know Harry and I were together – well kind of anyway? Was this why Harry let go of my hand? I looked at him, he was staring at Hermione, or was he? Cho was right behind Hermione. No. I was just being paranoid, act normal Ginny, I thought.

"Thanks" Cho said to Madam Rosmerta, when she handed her the drinks. Cho and her two friends walked out, Cho bringing up the rear, whilst she looked back and winked at Harry before she left. A wave of anger washed through my system. I couldn't stand it. A red haze filled my view. I wanted to hurt someone or something, which shocked me beyond understanding; I'm not usually a violent person. But here I was, sitting next to the boy I love, surrounded by friends, and acquaintances, and utter strangers, and all I wanted to do, was to punch someone, or scream at the top of my voice in this little pub. I felt something warm clutch my hand on my knee, I looked up to see Harry smiling down at me. The anger flashed out of me in a rush, and calm filled me up instead and I smiled back.

"Where shall we go after this?" Ron asked Harry over the wooden table.

Harry swallowed his mouthful of butter bear, before answering."Honeydukes?"

"Oh yeah. Defiantly. Then we HAVE to go to Zonko's Joke Shop" George said quickly, stopping Hermione before she could talk again. The convocation picked up quickly from there. We paid and left The Three Broomsticks, then stepped out into the cold again.

As we walked over to the door into Honeydukes, warm air flew from the shop as Malfoy, flanked by Crab and Goil laughing as they pushed past us and went down an alley down the side of Madam Puddifoot's café.

"Ugh" We all said simultaneously.

"Where do you think _they're _going?" Ron asked.

"Don't know. Don't care" I answered before we entered Honeydukes. As well as the warm air that stunned us mid step, we were also met by a beautiful sugary sweet smell. We went crazy in the shop, filling carrier bags with Chocolate Frogs, Liquorice Wands, Pepper Imps, Chocó balls, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Fizzing Whizzbees, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Toothflossing Stringmints, Ice Mice, Cockroach Clusters, Jelly Slugs, Blood Lollipops, Acid Pops and Sugar Quills, stuffing our faces with them as we shopped as well.

"Hiya Harry" Nevel said, passing us down the street outside Honeydukes.

"Hi Nevel." Harry said.

"Hiya Harry" Luna Lovegood's dreamy voice sounded from behind Nevel.

"Hello, Luna" Harry said, sounding as shocked as I felt. "What have you two been up to?"

"Oh. Nothing much, just a tad of shopping" Luna answered.

"Okay. Well we'll see you in the common room Nevel, and, well. I hope to see you soon Luna" Harry said, already trying to walk away.

"Do you think they're dating?" The question in my head burst through my lips.

"Proberly… We'll ask him when we next see him." I stared at Harry as we walked, but rush of warm air made me look around to see which shops we had entered – I didn't need to look far.

Zonko's joke shop - easy to recognize from the inside and the outside. Bright colours and laughing and talking from excited witches and wizards greet you. A huge clown towers over you in the middle of the room, and naturally Fred and George were there, as always. Harry dragged me by the elbow towards the twins.

"So this is where you got to." Harry called to them over the babbling crowds around us.

"Yep" Fred said a wide grin stretching across his already cheery face.

"We're trying to wangle a job out of Zonko. But, no luck so far." George said. "Though we haven't given up hope"

"You never will" I said.

"Nope, we won't"

"George. He said come back later right?" Fred said.

"Yes"

"Well. Ten minutes is technically later. Wouldn't you say?"

"Yes. I would Fred"

"Lets go. They said in unison" and they disappeared off through a door into the staff room.

"Those two" I said in a disapproving tone.

"Come on. They have spirit. It's lucky someone has some. All the kids at Hogwarts seem a little down lately at the moment" Harry replied.

"You sound surprised"

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"Well. It's just a tad obvious why they are more upset than usual isn't it?"

"I guess"

"You guess" I said, incredulous.

"Well. I know. I mean, it's not every day Voldemort comes back is it?"

"No. It's not" We looked around the shop in silence for a while. I saw a few people quickly look away as we caught their shocked gazes. Even at Hogwarts people cringe away from Voldemort's name, and how Harry says it so casually.

"You know, you shouldn't say his name. People don't like it." I said when Harry looked back at me. But he merely shrugged.

"Do you want to buy anything, or do you want to go somewhere else with me?"

"I honestly don't mind" As long as he was there, I didn't mind where we went.

"Come on then. Before Ron and Hermione come back" He clutched my hand tighter, and dragged me out behind him through the door and into the freezing cold street. It looked like he was leading me towards Madam Puddifoot's tea shop (the café for couples), until he stopped dead about twenty feet away from the door.

"Harry? Are you alright?"

"Where's Malfoy going?" He asked, ignoring my question. I followed his gaze to a small lane where the familiar blond haired Draco Malfoy was disappearing down, following a short figure draped in a sandy cloak.

"Hang on. I'm going to follow him"

"I'm not waiting for you Harry. You'll get hurt"

"This is precisely why I'm asking you to wait here. I won't get hurt. But I don't want to risk your health."

"You're stupid sometimes. I'm coming with you" He looked into my eyes for a long time, before pulling me along behind him again. He paused at the corner, looked round, and then started walking again. We creped slowly down the alley, always staying about fifteen feet behind Malfoy and the cloaked figure. The slipped down another dark lane and disappeared from view.

"Where did they go?" I asked him.

"I don't know. But we need to look. Come on"

"Harry?" I was about to protest about going down the alley, after looking down it myself and seeing some scary looking witches and wizards looking back at us. But I suddenly felt a pull, an almost magnetic pull down the alley. I wasn't sure what is was.

"Yes?"

"Nothing. Come on lets go" I started walking until another pull dragged me back. It wasn't the same kind of thing, it was a physical thing. Harry had grabbed my jacket, and was heaving me back out of the lane.

"What are you doing Harry? We need to go, otherwise we'll never find Malfoy."

"Ginny. I don't know. I think you should go back. Ron will never forgive me if you get into danger. And I'll never forgive myself if you get hurt."

"I can take care of myself. And plus, who's going to hurt me, when I'm with the chosen one" I teased. He tried not to smile, but failed and smirked. I pushed off the wall my back was pressed against, and pulled out my wand.

"Come on" I said. We started down the alley, pushing past the various people who were in the lane. Occasionally they tried to talk to us, but we ignored them and kept walking.

"There he is" Harry pointed over my shoulder into one of the shops. It was a grey building, made of wood. The windows had a crack down the centre, and above the door there was once a sign, but they had fallen off. Inside seemed to be a huge collection of sinister and dangerous objects. There were thousands of shelves around the walls, and book cases in the centre. Malfoy was walking through a door on the opposite side of the shop to us.

"What shall we do?" I asked.

"I don't know. Shall we go in?"

"I really don't think so" I said, but the magnetic pull was even stronger here, and I wanted to go indoors.

"It's a glass roof. We can proberly find some stairs, and look from above."

"Okay." I said. Eager to see what Malfoy was doing, and to see what this pull was leading me to. We walked further down the alley, and went round the back of the shops.

"There" I said, pointing out an old green fire escape. Harry walked over to it, and tried to pull the first ladder down to the floor, but it was stuck. He lifted me up, and I climbed up the ladder. He followed shortly after. There were three other ladders that were easier to climb since they weren't so rusty. Harry met me on the roof – it was a lot higher than I thought it would be – we lay down and shuffled closer to the glass. We peered down into the shops, slightly relieved, and excited at how close we were to seeing what was going on.

And stopped dead.

Malfoy and around twelve other people in black cloaks were circled around a huge cauldron. I recognized at least six faces. The faces of Bellatrix Lestrange, Fenrir Greyback, Draco Malfoy, Locus Malfoy, Peter Pettigrew… And a white face I knew too well. One I had never seen in real life, but had imagined too many times…

Voldemort.

I gasped loudly. My heart beat sped up very fast, as did Harry's. Harry grabbed my hand tightly, and dragged me back away from the class. He stared deep into my eyes, horror covering his face entirely. But I didn't feel the wave of fear that usually washed over me when I imagine Voldemort's face. I didn't feel it, because I wasn't scared. My mind told me I should be. It was an automatic warning, but I didn't feel it. I wasn't scared. I felt oddly reassured… Harry dragged me back down the fire escape – virtually carrying me – and ran with me back to Hogsmead.

"Ginny" Harry said, when we were safely by Dervish and Banges. He was gasping, trying to speak. At least he could just about speak. I couldn't. My mind was swirling around and around. I felt like I was about to faint. I finally realized what I had been drawn to. That ghostly white face. I had been drawn to Voldemort. What did this mean?

"We have to get back to Hogwarts" Harry said. We ran back to Hogwarts, knowing we couldn't do anything before Dumbledore knew. We threw ourselves through the front door, ignoring Filches list of curses as we flew past him and up the moving staircases. We were in luck, all the stairs were where they should be to get to Dumbledore's office in record time. Harry virtually screamed 'Liquorish Quills' at the gargoyle, which obediently moved aside. He sprinted up the stairs, me on his heels.

"DUMBLEDORE" He shouted as we entered his office. Dumbledore sat calmly behind his desk, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick and Snape opposite him. They all turned as we came crashing through the door. Dumbledore read our faces carefully, before a sheet of fear covered him as well.

"Harry what is it?" He said, his voice full of ancient grief. But Harry didn't answer, his eyes were locked on Snape, glaring at him.

"Harry. You can talk."

"Yes Potter. You can speak, and we will listen" Snape said, a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"Dumbledore, may I speak to you privately" Harry said, pulling his gaze away from Snape, to look at Dumbledore. I panted loudly at his side, but no one seemed to really acknowledge me. Professor McGonagall's gaze volleyed between Dumbledore and Harry, Flitwick looked at Dumbledore questionably.

"Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick, could you please step outside so I may speak to Mr. Potter and Miss Weasly privately." Dumbledore said.

The three teachers all left quietly, still looking at Dumbledore on the way out. As soon as the door closed behind them, Harry burst into explanation, so quickly I could barely make out the words.

"Voldemort Dumbledore. Voldemort. He's really back. We saw him. Down one of the alleys leading off Hogsmead. He's there. With the other death eaters. And Malfoy. He's one of them now. He's a death eater. We need to get everyone out of Hogsmead, or they will all die. Dumbledore. We need you to help!"

Dumbledore listened obediently, before cracking into action.

"Right. We need to evacuate the village. Miss Weasly, run and get Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, Snape and Flitwick. Tell them to open the doors and let all the witches and wizards in that we send up, then tell Professor McGonagall to send everyone to the Great Hall."

I made my muscles move and dragged myself out the door, down the stairs, just in time to see the three teachers who left Dumbledore's office round a corner.

"WAIT!" I yelled.

"Miss Weasly. What are you doing?" Professor McGonagall said, turning along with Flitwick and Snape who also looked at me.

"I need to talk to you." I said, still panting.

"Yes. What is it Miss Weasly?" Flitwick chirped up in his tiny voice.

"You need to trust me. You have to believe every word I say. Dumbledore sent me to come and tell you. But you can't ask questions. I am following his orders. Okay?"

"Okay…" Snape said in his dreary voice.

"When Harry and I were in Hogsmead, we followed Malfoy down an alley way. He went into a shop, and through the back door, and we couldn't see him. So we climbed to the top of the building up a fire escape. When we looked through the roof, we saw him, his father, about twelve death eaters and…."

"And?" Snape said. He seemed the only one who could talk.

"Voldemort" I said. Everyone except Snape flinched at the name. "Dumbledore told me to tell you," I looked at Professor McGonagall "to tell all the students to get into the Great Hall, and calm them down. Order them into silence. Don't tell them anything till Dumbledore comes back. He is getting everyone from Hogsmead to come up to the castle. He wanted to ask you two," I looked at Snape and Flitwick "to tell everyone who comes up here to go the Great Hall, and order them into silence as well. Dumbledore will explain everything to them as well. Also I think he will want all the teachers to help him protect the castle from the Dark wizards. I need to go get Hagrid, and tell him everything."

"Someone should come with you. Tell Professor Peaks to join you. He is in his office." Professor McGonagall gasped. They broke into action and did their instructed jobs. I sprinted down three flights of stairs to the defence against the dark arts classroom. I didn't bother to knock. I flung the door open, and there he was. Standing less than five feet in front of me.

"Miss Weasly? What is it." I repeated the convocation I had had with the other teachers.

"So Professor McGonagall suggested that you come with me to get Hagrid."

"Okay. I will accompany you to Hagrid. Then I will help Dumbledore and Harry in Hogsmead. Lead the way Miss Weasly. Wands out." We scurried down the flights of stairs, and ran through the crowds of pupils and other witches and wizards from Hogsmead that were filing into the Great Hall. Fortunately, we did not need to go outside. Hagrid was there, by the door, Flitwick had told him everything. His face was of blank horror, like all of those people who knew the reason why everyone was evacuating Hogsmead, and coming to Hogwarts.

"I guess I will be off then. Take care Ginny" before I could turn to look at Professor Peaks, he was already walking swiftly out the front door.

"Ginny. What's going on? I bet you know. McGonagall said Harry and Dumbledore know, so you must." I turned to glare at Hannah and Mary's keyed up faces.

"Yes. I do know" I said.

"Really?" This seemed to excite them further. "What's happening? Come on, tell us Ginny."

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?" I screamed at them. The groups of people near us went quiet at my outburst.

"Come on Ginny. It's a little thrilling, don't you think?"

"NO. I DON'T" I was still shouting. This shocked me. I was still furious, but not at them. I had been keeping busy, not thinking about the weird feeling I had down the dark alley. That pull I felt towards Voldemort. I turned away from their terrified faces, and ran to the girls toilets. As I was running, I heard them behind me, murmuring things that sounded like _"What's her problem?" _and _"Boy. She's CRAZY" _but I ignored them and kept going. I locked myself in one of the green cubicles. The salt water in my tears fell over and ran down my cheeks. I clutched my jewel necklace that I had found at home. Loud whimpers burst through my lips as the vital questions flew through my mind. Why was I drawn to Voldemort? Will he come to the castle? Will Harry and Dumbledore be okay in Hogsmead? Will they escape before the death eaters attack? I have to help. I HAVE to. I stood up - stumbling a little in the process – and wiped my cloak sleeve over my cheeks and unlocked the door. I strode out with my head down, not wanting people to see I'm upset. I went straight to the doors – pushing through the continuing crowds of people – and marched out the front door – ignoring Flitwick's shouts of objection at my leaving. I made my way to Hogsmead, never letting myself think of the questions, or the pull I felt…

When the first few shops came into view – over the heads of the hordes of evacuating witches and wizards – I started running. Running straight over to where the mob stopped where it was most probable to see Harry. I took my wand out, holding it in front of me as I sprinted.

"HARRY!" I screamed. "HARRY!"

"Ginny?" Harry said, shocked to see me.

"HARRY!" I yelled again.

"Ginny. What on earth are you doing here? It's not safe!"

"I'm here to help Harry. I can't do anything."

"Ginny. We've got this covered. Professor Peaks came along, we're all set, about to leave with them as a matter of fact!"

"Well. Then I can leave with you." He gave me a disapproving look, before shaking his head and carrying on moving the throng of people towards Hogwarts.

"Where is Peaks?" I asked after a while.

"I'm not sure. He said he was going to Gladrags Wizardwear to get everybody out, but that was about fifteen minutes ago."

"Where's Dumbledore then?"

"Telling the Ministry."

"What? That Voldemort is back, and may attack Hogwarts at any minute? I'm _sure_ they'll believe that!"

"Yeah. Making the ministry believe anything, that's a battle that's lost before it stated." He chuckled, and I joined in.

"HARRY!" I jumped at the outburst of Harry's name. We looked around until we saw the person who was shouting at him. To my disgust I saw Cho Chang's face of pure horror staring at Harry, completely ignoring me.

"Cho?" Harry breathed.

"Harry. What's going on?" She asked.

"Cho. You need to get to the castle; Dumbledore will explain it all when you get there. Hurry Cho. We don't know how much time we have."

"Harry. You HAVE to tell me!"

"No Harry, don't!" I whispered to him. Red clouding my vision as I looked to glare at Cho.

"Go to the castle Cho."

"But Harry…"

"NO. GO NOW" He interrupted her by yelling. She scurried off, following the mass of people, with a hurt expression on her face. Harry looked after her, looking almost… guilty?

"Come on Harry, and… Miss Weasly? When did you arrive…? Oh that's by the by. Everyone is going to the castle. We better follow." Professor Peaks said, coming from behind us. He put a hand on both of our shoulders, and led us in the general direction of the castle.

"Irma… Oh I mean, Mrs. Pince" Peaks said, glancing at the pupils in front of him – Voldemort was back, possibly less than four miles behind us, and he was fretting over the correct way to address the Hogwarts decrepit librarian. "Are you alright?"

"No Andros," - she obviously didn't care for his etiquette – "I am not alright. You know who is coming, and I want to get as far as possible from Hogwarts. That's where he most likely will attack. So I'm leaving!" She got louder at the end.

"Come now Mrs. Prince. That would be the opposite of helpful. Who is you know who most afraid of." Mrs. Prince's gaze shot to Harry, and back to Peaks' gaze.  
"Yes. Mr. Potter, and…?"

"Professor Dumbledore?"

"Precisely. So running away from them is not a good idea. You are more likely to hurt away from the castle than staying inside. Look how many witches and wizards are here. They all trust Dumbledore…"

"THEY DON'T KNOW THOUGH DO THEY ANDROS?"

"No… That is correct. But they will. And then they will trust in Albus, and stay"

"How do you know?" They continued this argument more quietly, but I didn't hear the end as Harry grabbed my hand, and dragged me away from them.

"Sorry. I couldn't stand that bickering anymore." He said, smirking at me.

"So…. What happened back there with Cho?" My question surprised him.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Cho? What's going on?"

"Nothing" He said, still puzzled, but sounding a little nervous.

"Really? You used to be head over heels for her."

"Exactly. Past tense. _Used to be_" He quoted, over exaggerating each word, like I wasn't mentally competent – I wasn't even sure I was. The pull I felt towards Voldemort earlier today was crazy. But, fortunately, that same pull was not there when I was in Hogsmead moments ago. What did that mean? Was Voldemort attacking the castle already? Either way, we better hurry everyone along!

"Harry. We need to get the line moving. Everyone needs to get to the castle as soon as possible!"

"Ginny…?"

"No time for explanations, we HAVE to get moving!"

"Okay... Come on." He called, continually dragging me through the crowd. "DUMBLEDORE!" He gasped. I followed his gaze and saw him, he was easy to see because of his long grey beard, and his half moon spectacles, and the oddly calm expression that stood out against the masks of horror around him. He noticed us after a while, and walked swiftly over to us.

"The Ministry… was difficult. They send John Dawlish – an Auror – to the castle. He will be arriving shortly, to check everything out. As per usual, Cornelius didn't believe me." Dumbledore shook his head slowly as he updated us on the situation.

"Dumbledore, Ginny and I feel that the line is moving far too slowly. We need to get them moving faster." Harry explained.

"Yes. Yes. I agree. Well done by the way Harry, you have done a fantastic job at getting everybody out of Hogsmead. Did you get everybody out?"

"Yes. Professor Peaks helped a lot as well. He's trying to calm the crowds down. Flitwick is at the castle, lots of the teachers know now. McGonagall is getting everyone settled for when you tell them everything. Flitwick and the others are waiting for everyone to arrive, and then he will help you put some protective charms around the castle, you know. Just in case."

"Yes. Defiantly. Well, I'll get everyone to move along quicker. Cover your ears." Dumbledore said. He pointed his wand to his throat and muttered "Sonorus" and Harry and I was right to cover our ears.

"Everybody, if you don't mind, could you please move faster. No hold ups. Come on."

There were mumbled complaints, before the huge mass of people moved faster.

"Quietus" Dumbledore said, re-pointing his elegant wand to his neck again.

We walked in silence for a while, proberly too worried to speak, until the castle was in sight and a wave of calm seemed to wash over us, and everybody's pace seemed to quicken. Eventually everyone was indoors. Most people were settled in the Great Hall, – all the tables had been removed to make room for people to stand up inside – but everyone else, who couldn't fit in the dining room were in the Entrance Hall crowding around the door to the Great Hall so that they could still listen. Dumbledore exited behind us, and went back through the door, and joined Flitwick and the other teachers to cast protective spells around the castle.

Around us were babbled questions. Mostly aimed towards Harry, but he ignored them and kept walking with me – more like pushing – through the crowds until we were at the front of the Great Hall where the teachers usually sat at mealtimes. We waited by the side of the raised platform for Dumbledore. I glanced around for Dumbledore, until he suddenly appeared behind us.

"Right. Let's get this over with." Dumbledore said before making his voice magically louder like he did before. The prattle of voices echoing around the hall was quiet as soon as they noticed Dumbledore standing on the stage.

"First of all, I must say thank you to everyone here, who complied so trustingly. I have to say it is lucky since it is cold outside, that not too many of you were at Hogsmead, otherwise not everyone would fit in this castle. So thank you all. But I expect why you all are curious as to why we have brought you here. So this is it. Voldemort is back. We all know that, but he is close. Closer than anyone knew, and A LOT closer than any of us wanted. I have informed the ministry about the situation, they are being… incredulous. They do not want to believe the truth, but I hope you will all be different, and believe me. And for your own safety, stay inside the castle. We have all of the teachers casting protection spells around the castle. Because, as we speak, dark forces may be trying to penetrate the castle. But as long as you stay indoors, you are safe. I promise you." He said with a sincere expression on his face. Gasps filled the silence as Dumbledore fell quiet. Then the scared voices began. Everyone was shifting, as if wanting to scream and run from the room. I clutched Harry's hand tighter as everyone started shouting.

"LIER" A balding man wearing an ugly brownish green cloak yelled from the back of the hall.

"Yeah. Dumbledore, You're lying. And so is HE" An old women with grey hair like medusas snakes screamed, jabbing a finger at Harry.

"I AM NOT LYING. No one here is lying." Harry called.

"LIER. LIER. LIER" Was repeated over and over again through the crowds. There was uproar. Everyone was shouting and screaming, only the Hogwarts students stayed still, proberly too shocked still too move. I couldn't make out specific voices from the crowd; it was just aloud humming as everyone shrieked.

"SILENCE" Dumbledore yelled his voice still magically louder. Everyone turned quiet, and looked back towards Dumbledore.

"Will everyone please, not panic. I understand your confusion, and I understand how difficult it is to stay calm under the circumstances. But please… PLEASE try. Try your very hardest to stay calm." Unlike the last time, no one moved. No one spoke, even the breathing was quiet.

"Thank you. Thank you all. Now, I have to ask a lot of all of you. But please remember that anything I ask you to do, is for your own safety. Is that clear?"

There were murmurs of "Yes" and people were nodding.

"I have to ask you to stay in the castle. Overnight… We will give you the best accommodations we can conjure up. Again, this is for your own safety. And I have to ask you all not to step one foot out of the castle grounds." Everyone still stayed quiet. I gazed over the crowds of faces that suddenly, completely understood. They all made me feel calm, until my gaze locked on a familiar face that made anger zap through my veins. Unfortunately Cho Chang's leer aimed at Harry, did not meet my angered glare, then maybe she would have looked away, and not infuriated me further.

Everyone had dispersed from the great hall, and had gone to do different past times. Some were exploring the castle; the teachers were creating blankets and pillows for everyone to sleep on. I was traipsing around Hogwarts behind Harry, and glaring at Cho every time she tried to talk to Harry. Apparently my gaze was enough to make her leave him alone. I had watched the front door being bolted shut with seven enchanted bars for the night. Everyone was taking security very seriously – and with good reason. Virtually the whole castle was lit up with candles, and people were starting to find places to sleep. That's where the real problem was. There wasn't enough room. The classrooms weren't being used for bedrooms since the pupils still needed to be taught. I thought this was a ridiculous idea, and that we shouldn't be being taught as usual. But Dumbledore had ignored this and simply said "It's a difficult time for pupils, staff, and for the whole magical community. We should try to keep things going as normally as possible." But no one knew what to do about the sleeping arrangements, the great hall was already full, and the house elves were shedding blood and sweat trying to prepare all the hundreds of extra meals for all the new people. We needed new accommodation… But how? Harry, Nevel, Luna, Hermione, Ron and I were sitting in one of the corridors that people barely walked down, discussing the coming terror.

"I don't understand. Why now?" Hermione said.

"Element of surprise I guess… But that's no use to Voldemort now is it?"

"Dumbledore doesn't seem worried" Luna trilled.

"Brave face I guess." Hermione replied.

"What if someone here is a death eater in disguise. And they're getting inside information?" Ron asked.

"I doubt that Ron. What death eater would have the patience and self restraint to be so close to Dumbledore, and Harry, without trying to kill them?" Hermione reasoned.

"The room of requirement." Nevel murmured.

"I'm sorry?" I said.

"For the people to sleep in. If we walk three times past that wall, opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance, thinking REALLY hard that we need a huge room for people to sleep in… Then we're sorted."

"That's brilliant Nevel!" Hermione said.

"Good idea" Ron approved.

"You should tell Dumbledore. I'll come with you." Luna said, standing up, and pulling Nevel along with her. They disappeared round the corner at the end of the corridor. Harry pulled me closer to his side as a gust of freezing cold wind blew around us.

"Ugh" Ron muttered so quietly I wasn't completely sure he even said it.

"Shall we go after them?" Hermione asked, looking over to where Luna and Nevel had disappeared.

"Yeah. We could help round the people up and tell them to go into the Room of Requirement." I said. Hermione and Ron got up, and started walking off. Harry wrapped his arm around my waist and hauled me up onto my feet. He spun me around to look at him, and inclined his face towards mine. I closed my eyes, stood on my tip toes.

"COME ON HARRY." Hermione called from the end of the corridor. "Oh. Sorry." She blushed, and ran off. Harry sighed loudly, and then pulled me along next to him.

"This way." Harry called to the horde of witches and wizards that were filling into the room Nevel had created out of the Room of Requirement. It was gigantic with warm gold and brown walls. It was FULL of beds. Not four poster beds like the ones in the dormitories, but they were big enough. Everyone had a bed, so no one was sleeping in the Great Hall. The four house tables had been restored into their usual places again.

"Harry?" I asked.

"Just a minute Ginny." He said, not looking at me, he was waving the people through the double doors. "Come on!"

I stood still, not looking at the people; I was looking at the tapestry of Trolls, being taught how to do ballet. I chuckled quietly to myself as I thought of the impossibility of this. I didn't have much experience with Trolls, only the one that had been let into the castle in Harry's first year. And even then, I had only been told about it by Ron, I was never there.

After quarter of an hour all the people that we evacuated from Hogsmead were all in their beds.

"Harry?" I said again.

"Yes?" Harry said in a dreary voice.

"Shall we go to the common room?"

"Sure. I need to sleep." He walked next to me to the common room. We went through the door, spotting Hermione, Ron and Nevel were sitting by the roaring flames, which were licking around the coal and logs like they were great lovers.

"Hey Guys." I said.

"Hey Harry, Hi Ginny." Hermione said.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing really." Nevel said, repressing a yawn.

"I'm going to bed. See you guys tomorrow." Harry said, although he looked wise awake. Harry disappeared up the stairs.

"It's been such a long day. Hasn't it?" I said. "I think I'm going to go to sleep as well."

"Ginny, you actually look kind of hyped up. Not at all sleepy." Hermione said.

"Oh well…" I trailed off, and went upstairs.

Hermione was right. I couldn't sleep. I didn't even try. Like I had said before, it had been a VERY long day. It had started so casually. Now, the castle was full of stranger witches and wizards. I sat up right in my bed; most of the other girls who slept in the same dormitory as me were asleep, only a few were using this excuse to stay up late. I swung my legs out of bed. I was still fully dressed – like I said, I didn't even try to sleep. I tiptoed out of the dormitory, down the stairs, and walked straight through the common room to the door – ignoring Hermione when she called my name. I had no idea where I was heading, but I just needed a walk to think the questions that had been bouncing in and out of my head all day. The questions about the pull I felt towards Voldemort… What was that about? Maybe I was just seeing, well, feeling things in this case… Maybe I was mad. Or maybe I just wanted to get rid of Voldemort once and for all, and subconsciously I felt the pull so that I could kill him and stop him annoying Harry.

"Aghh" I moaned, as I felt a burning pain spread across my collar bone as I thought of destroying Voldemort. What was that about? Fear? I clutched my neck, and was almost surprised to find my purple necklace hanging around my neck that I had found in Charlie's safe at home.

I didn't look where I was going as I descended another stair case and walked to the court yard. I passed several classrooms, but there were far too many people around talking to seriously think in peace. I marched forward until I was far away from the groups of pupils. There was a closed door at the other end of the corridor and walked through. The door opened silently. The room inside was already dimly lit, and I could hear people breathing inside. I was about to turn around and leave, until my eyes adjusted to the light, and I saw the two faces at the back right corner of the room. One of them had their back to one of the walls, with their hands pushed against the other persons shoulders.

A red haze clouded my vision, and I completely lost control…


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Rage. Rage. Rage… Nothing but anger. I was quivering with disgust and resentment as I gazed forward, not seeing anything. I saw Harry push away the mongrel Cho. He turned his gaze to me, but Cho didn't seem to notice. She kept trying to kiss Harry more and more. He shoved her away, and started walking towards me, palms forward. He kept saying something but I didn't hear. Like many times before my vision turned red, but not the haze like it had before, this time it completely clouded my vision. Harry turned his head towards Cho and screamed something at her. Tears filled her eyes, and she ran past me out the door. She was just lucky that I was so confused that I didn't reach out and crush her head. Harry turned back to me and started talking again. It sounded like.

"Ginny. I am so sorry. I know this sounds so odd, but it was her. Not me…" He was saying something else, but I couldn't understand… Everything went black. And the real me didn't resurface. I crumpled in a heap on the floor, unable to move. I felt like strings were attached to every one of my limbs. I wasn't in control of my body anymore, another part of me was. Without giving myself permission to, I stood, but didn't stop. My feet barely grazed the floor. I was lifted into the air, my arms spread as wide as they could. I could fell Harry's terrified gaze on me as I rose, but I didn't pay any attention. My brain was screaming at me to run. I could hear the scream in my head. Hear it echoing. Bouncing around my brain. Scaring me. But I couldn't stop it. I was about twelve feet off the floor, before I fell with a crash – my bones?

I could feel Harry's trembling fingers press down lightly on my wrists. I could hear him whimpering my name over and over. I wanted to reply. To ask what was going on…  
My head whipped up, and caught his anxious gaze. I thought looking at him would help, but it did everything but. I wanted him dead…

I stood up so quickly I didn't know how it happened. I glared up at him, and reached into my cloak for my wand, but it wasn't there. I knelt down, scrambled for a second, and found my wand on the cold stone floor. I looked up to see Harry, but he wasn't there. The light in the room went out, and then turned back on, but not from the same place as before. I turned a full three sixty degree turn, and found Harry standing by the door that he had shut - and apparently locked since there was a huge steel lock keeping it bolted shut.

"Ginny?" He asked. I just carried on glaring, trying to stop myself. The Ginny part of myself told me this was stupid. What was going on? What was controlling me?

"Ginny? This isn't you. Calm down…" he cut off as I raised my wand and pointed it at his face. My rational side ordered myself to lower my wand, but I couldn't fight it. Without actually seeing it, Harry whacked his hand up so quickly and knocked the wand out of my hand. Without taking his eyes off me, he pointed his own wand at mine that was still bouncing across the floor, and said "Accio." My wand shot into his open hand.

"Ginny. Calm down. Please. Concentrate. This isn't you!" he begged. He reached out to put a hand on my shoulder, in response I hissed and took an automatic step back. He dropped his hand.

"GINNY! LISTEN TO ME" he shouted. "Dumbledore." He muttered. I hissed louder. I pointed at Harry. He looked confused for half a second before his face screwed up in pain and a blue zap flew out of my finger. Harry sank to the floor in a heap, and twitched uncontrollably. A hysterical giggle escaped my lips, but my brain was screaming at me still, and crying. The blue line of electricity turned red, and Harry screamed in pain.

"GINNY WEASLY!" yelled a familiar croaky voice that sent a new wave of rage wash through me. I looked over to see Dumbledore standing there with a terrified expression on his face. Harry's scream went silent as I let my arm drop.

"Harry?" Dumbledore gasped, not taking his eyes off of me. "Phasmatis Abiungo" Dumbledore muttered. "Tom?"

"Dumbledore!" I growled in a tone that was unfamiliar to me.

"Tom Riddle?" Dumbledore said.

"Tom Riddle?" Harry said, standing up next to me, but backing away slowly towards Dumbledore. I hissed again, and pointed my hand towards Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore, her eyes!" Harry exclaimed. "Their red…"

My eyes were red? But… What did that mean?

"Avada Ked…" I growled, but was cut off.

"HARRY MOVE" Dumbledore yelled, pushing Harry to the side, before leaping out the way himself. I hissed louder than before, and looked around for Dumbledore and Harry, but I couldn't see them. I frantically searched for them around the room. But I could only see the door.

"Petrificus Totalus" Was yelled behind me. My arms and legs locked to my sides, and I collapsed onto the floor. Someone's hand brushed my neck, which made me angrier than before. There was a quiet clinking sound, and something was taken from my neck. I shock my body, and my arms and legs were able to move again. I stood up quickly and looked over to Dumbledore and Harry. Harry was passing my purple necklace to Dumbledore, apparently they hadn't noticed me standing up – no one is supposed to be able to get out of Petrificus Totalus without using the counter curse. I pointed towards them again and repeated "Avada Kedavra" But instead of the green jet of light that I had come to expect. The jet that did appear flew towards Harry, split in two so that one was aimed towards Dumbledore as well, but about three feet away from them, it ricocheted off some invisible force and disappeared in a shower of green sparks that vanished before they hit the floor.

"Pello Pepulli" Dumbledore whispered twice. Then Harry and Dumbledore both said it together. "Pello Pepulli" A purple flash of light flew from the jewel and the chain and shot towards me. I stood still for half a second, before – once again – I collapsed in a heap on the floor… But part of me stayed standing. Above me, a boy in a black cloak, with crimson red eyes and sleek black hair stood over me, a smirk on his ghostly white face.

"Ah. Dumbledore and Harry Potter. All in the same room. Brilliant. This couldn't have worked out better. And with every one of the witches and wizards that you are accommodating in this dump, are fast asleep. Brilliant."

"Hello Tom." Dumbledore said.

"Didn't expect me. Did you Albus?"

"I certainly did not."

"Ah. The unprepared man. So weak and easily dealt with." He said, smiling wider. "Wand" He ordered, and my wand flew from Harry's back pocket into his awaiting claw.

"It's foolish for you to come here Tom. There are aura's coming."

"By which time, you won't be here Dumbledore."

"Harry?" I croaked.

"Ah. Ginny Weasly." Tom Riddle said, turning to look at me on the floor.

"Harry?" I repeated, refusing to look at Tom Riddle's face. This was not the face that Harry and I saw in Hogsmead, but it was just as bad. It was Voldemort's younger self. The one from the Chamber of Secrets. The one whose book had made me do a series of terrible things.

"Ginny, Ginny, Ginny. So we meet again." Tom said. "Such a stupid child. So easy to control, as I have done. As you know." He pulled his leg back, and whacked it forward into my stomach. I screamed in pain.

"Flagrate" Tom said quietly, pointing his wand at Harry – who was running towards Tom. The words 'The boy who lived' were spelt out across Harry's chest in burns, and he stumbled back in pain.

"Familiar Ginny? Yes. I know. I spelt out my name the last time we met. And do you remember this?" He pointed his finger at me, and a blue flash of electricity zoomed out of his finger nail and flew into my chest, where Riddle had kicked me. I screeched out in pain again, as I was electrocuted. "Yes Ginny. This is the spell you cast on Harry!" He continued zapping me.

"HARRY!" I screamed and I closed my eyes. I suddenly felt boiling hot. I opened my eyes to see flames spark around me, and knock Tom off his feet. I looked over to see Dumbledore waving his arm around his head, flames flying out. Someone grabbed my arm, and lifted me off the floor. He dragged me towards one of the walls, and we turned to see a battle. Tom Riddle was casting jets of rainbow lights out of his wand, while Dumbledore deflected them, making Voldemort dodge them.

"Ginny. Are you alright?" Harry murmured. Looking at me from the corner of his eye.

"Yes. I am so sorry Harry. Please forgive me. I'm sorry. It wasn't me. I couldn't…" I couldn't finish. Tears clouded my gaze; I wiped them away with the back of my hand.

"Ginny. Don't worry. I know it wasn't you…" He didn't finish. He was cut off by Voldemort yelling "Avada Kedavra"

"NOOOO" Harry screamed, leaping in between the green jet of light and Dumbledore and yelled "Expelliarmus" The red stream of light hit the emerald fountain of sparks with a colossal bang before both spells exploded.

"Harry. I'm sorry. I didn't say hello." Riddle said with a mocking grin on his face. Harry completely ignored him, and kept his wand up.

"Harry. Get out of the way!" Dumbledore ordered.

"Shut up old man. You hold half the interest to me as Harry does!"

"Tom don't be so foolish. End this now." Dumbledore said.

"Avada Kedavra" Tom said. Everything happened very quickly then. I had to go over it all repeatedly to get to grips with it. It seemed that the unforgivable curse shot towards Harry, but before it could hit him, Dumbledore cast a spell that sounded like "Deprimo" That made a strong gust of wind throw Harry out of the way. But the curse was still coming at Dumbledore. But just before it could kill Dumbledore, Regis (Dumbledore's new Phoenix) flew in between them and burst into flames when it collided with the spell. Ash fell to the floor in a small heap.

"Harry. Ginny. RUN!" Dumbledore screamed. I couldn't move, but Harry dragged me out the room, while Dumbledore and Tom Riddle's duel continued behind us. He pulled me out through the court yard, and into the grounds.

"Harry. What about everyone else?"

"They're pretty much all gone, or leaving. Dumbledore told me that if he had the slightest feeling that Riddle was coming, that he would evacuate everyone. I think we are the only people left here."

"Oh. That's… Good… I guess." I was relieved that my brothers were out. That they were safe. Or so I thought…

"GINNY! HARRY" seven voices screamed. Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Luna, Hagrid and Nevel called, running towards us from the forest. I saw flashed of light flying from the castle behind Harry and me.

"What are you doing here?" I yelled.

"Trying to help you guys out. What do you think?"

"You should have gone!" I said, disapproving.

"Yeah right. We're all in this together."

"Yep. Couldn't leave our little sis all alone to face Voldemort!" Fred and George said, ruffling my hair. Completely realized as usual under the tense and dangerous circumstances.

"Hiya Harry. You doing alright?" Hagrid said.

"Uh. Okay. I guess. Under the circumstances." Harry said.

"So what are you ALL doing here?" I asked.

"Reinforcements." Ron said simply.

"YOU ARE NOT FIGHTING VOLDEMORT!" I screamed.

"Shh Ginny." Harry said, clutching his hand over my mouth.

"We need to help Ginny. And you can't stop us!" Hermione said.

I tried to complain again against Harry's hand to no avail.

"HUH! Harry what happened to your chest?" Nevel squealed.

"I'll explain everything later. We need to help Dumbledore!" Harry said.

"They're coming out. Wands everybody." Hagrid called. The sparks from the castle got closer and closer and bigger and bigger.

"Prepare yourself everybody." Harry muttered.

We all stayed very quiet as we watched the young Tom Riddle and the old wrinkled face Dumbledore circle each other, sparks flying around them, but kept getting deflected before it hit either of them. We could almost make out the spells that they were uttering. They came towards us quite quickly. The rainbow sparks showered above them, and lit up the castle. They circled towards us, until they were less than fifty feet away… That's when we joined in. We ran forward, our wands raised, and cast spells as well. Flames lit up the grass around us, caging us in. We set jets of light at him again and again, but they never hit. An almighty roar came from the forest behind us, but we didn't turn to see what was going on there. Dumbledore cast waves of water around, that smashed into Tom and sent him flying through the distinguished flames. Tom Riddle levitated off the ground, before he hit the grass.

"Hmmm… Looks like _I _need some reinforcements." Tom said. He looked behind him, as our spells ceased. Four smoky grey pillars of smoke blew over the castle and landed two either side of Tom Riddle. The horrifying faces of Bellatrix Lestrange, Fenrir Greyback, Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew stared back at us, their wands raised for battle. And if that wasn't enough… A coal black smoke pipe blew over last, making Tom Riddle move so that this last figure could take centre stage.

Voldemort.

The old Voldemort - the one from my nightmares. The one Harry has faced time and time again before… Standing twenty feet in front of me. I gasped – and was not the only one. All of our side gasped in turn.

"Ahahaha" Bellatrix cackled. "All of Harry Potter's pathetic friends. Even little Nevel. Haven't seen your parents lately boy. How are they?" Nevel tensed next to me, and his nostrils flared.

"Now now Bellatrix. Don't be nasty to the little children." Luscious Malfoy said.

"Silence" Voldemort and Tom Riddle said together, in perfect unison. "It looks like your outnumbered Harry Potter."

"We'll still fight." Harry said bravely.

"Good. It's no good beating an opponent who forfeits.

"We have our own army though Tom." Dumbledore said.

"Of children Dumbledore. They are no match for us. It will hardly be any fun." Bellatrix screeched.

"How wrong you are Bellatrix." Dumbledore murmured, as Tonks, Mad Eye Moody, Sirius, Dad, Mum, Lupin, Mundungus Fletcher, Kingsly Shackelbolt and Charlie appeared around us. With their wands raised as well. Unlike us, they seemed unsurprised at the group waiting to overthrow us.

"Ah Dumbledore. The order of the phoenix." The two Voldemort's growled. "How nice of you to all join us." He sounded like he thought the complete opposite.

"Expelliarmus." Fenrir Greyback exclaimed at Harry, just as Harry said "Protago" But Fenrir jumped out the way. Then, the battle began again.

Mum, Dad, Fred and George were fighting Fenrir. Whilst Charlie, Nevel, Lupin and Tonks took on Bellatrix. Luna, Mad Eye Moody and Kingsly Shackelbolt duelled against Peter Pettigrew. Mundungus Fletcher, Hermione and I battled Luscious. And Dumbledore, Harry, Sirius, and Ron fought the two Voldemort's…  
And they were about to lose…

The grounds were filled with sparks of multi coloured lights like fireworks. From far away this scene proberly looked very pretty, and inviting. But down here. This scene was deadly. I was so tied up with my own fight, that I didn't notice when seven other bodies appeared around me. Enemies or allies? I couldn't tell. I heard gasps around me. Who had been lost? Theirs or ours?

I heard an almighty roar around me, and I suddenly felt boiling hot all over again. Something came towards our group, and it made the earth shake under my feet. I turned for the first time, and I noticed the people who had joined us before. Luckily they were friends. Well, teachers in this case. There was McGonagall, Flitwick, Professor Sprout, Professor Peaks, Mrs. Prince, Madame Hooch and Mrs. Trelawney. They had all joined the fights.

My gaze was obscured by the animal causing the entire disturbance on both sides. Norbert's gigantic figure was charging towards us, breathing flames all over the Death eaters. Their gaze was terrified as they stared at the dragon rounding on them.

"RIDUCTO!" Dumbledore yelled, pointing at Voldemort's wand which exploded into a million pieces, and Tom Riddle immediately disappeared. Voldemort looked around, as if expecting Tom to come back. Then he to disappeared in a gust of black smoke. Quickly followed by his death eaters and we were all alone in the grounds, and everything was silent.

"Is it over?" Nevel asked.

"Yes. I think it is. For now Nevel."

It was silent for two heartbeats, and then our cheering erupted. Mum and Dad – the closest to me, grabbed me, and clutched me close to them. All of our side were embracing and clapping each other on the back. Like Dumbledore said. It was over. For now.

"I don't understand though Dumbledore." I asked. Harry, Hagrid, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Charlie and I were in Dumbledore's office. The rest of the school had come back, and were continuing as normal around the school. The people from Hogsmead had gone back to their shops with a new sense of security that they didn't have before.

"What don't you get Miss Weasly?" Dumbledore asked.

"What happened? I was me, but… Not me. I was evil. I tortured Harry." I flinched at the memory, and Harry rubbed my shoulder reassuringly.

"Of course it wasn't you Miss Weasly. You were possessed, by Tom Riddle. It seems, that when Harry destroyed Tom's book in the Chamber of Secrets, the spirit escaped into you. And it was waiting for something to set it off. And obviously. You were very upset, and it completely took you over."

"So for the past two years, it's been building up inside of me?"

"Precisely." Dumbledore said.

"That reminds me. Harry? How did you get the scar on your chest?" Hermione asked, pointing to the letters 'The boy who lived' that were burned onto his chest.

"Voldemort… The younger one. He was sadistic… Well… Even more sadistic than usual. He hurt Ginny worse though."

"Ginny? Are _you_ alright?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. Harry. I am SO sorry. I didn't mean to… You understand that though, don't you?"

"Of course Ginny." Harry reassured me.

"How did Tom Riddle come out of me though. I don't get it." I asked Dumbledore.

"You know that necklace you were wearing." Dumbledore said, pointing to my necklace on his desk. "It is a Phasmatis Abiungo. This means 'Soul Separator'. I recognized it, and then Harry and I cast the spell that goes along with it. And… Well… He came out." Dumbledore explained.

"Yeah Ginny. What are you doing going into my safe. I found that years ago. Never was sure what it was. So I kept it there." Charlie said, coming to my side.

"Well. It's been a very long day for everyone. I think we should all go to our house common rooms, and try to calm down." Dumbledore suggested.

"Okay. Come on Ginny." Harry said, clasping my hand, and trying to lead me out the door.

"Wait." I said. I turned back to Dumbledore. "I need to ask one more."

"Go ahead Miss Weasly." Dumbledore said, curiously.

"Well. When Harry and I were in Hogsmead… When we first saw…" I gulped. "Voldemort." It was even harder to say his name now I had fought against him. "I felt… a pull… towards him… It was… odd. And I don't know what it was."

"Ah. I was wondering earlier if you had experienced that. It's interesting. Since the Tom Riddle that had infested you was a horcrux, then it is connected to Voldemort in a way. Since it is part of him. When the horcrux is near the creator, they try to stick to them… to reattach themselves to the beginning person. I'm surprised Voldemort stood so close to Tom, they may have reattached… It was dangerous. Voldemort could have joined together with Tom… But… It's a risk they were taking so that they could try to kill us all." He grimaced.

"Thank you Dumbledore. For everything."

"Don't worry Miss Weasly."

Then Harry pulled me out of the door after Fred and George had already left. Hagrid met us halfway to the common room.

"Hiya Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Charlie."

"Hey Hagrid. I wanted to say, that I can take Norbert off your hands again. If that is alright?" Charlie said.

"Of course Charlie. He'll be happier with others of his kind. As long as I can visit him."

"Defiantly. It will be good seeing you again. Shall I come with you to see him?"

"'Kay." Charlie and Hagrid went off the way we had just come. I could see Charlie and Hagrid becoming great friends. They both had strong interest in all magical creatures. Ron and Hermione went straight to the common room, and we were following ten feet behind them. Hermione and Ron disappeared through the fat lady portrait, I was about to follow behind them but Harry swung me around.

"Hang on Ginny. I need to explain something."

"Okay…" I asked. A sceptical expression on my face.

"What you saw. With Cho. That wasn't my fault. I know that that's what everybody would say under the circumstances. But it's true. Cho sent one of her friends to tell Nevel that she was in trouble. I was stupid and gullible and went along and went to where she was. In that classroom. I had to make sure she was alright. Well not so much that. I had to make sure Voldemort wasn't there. Then, as I got in the room, she… Pounced on me, and I was taken by surprise. And that's when you came in… Cho doesn't hold a thousandth of the attraction you hold for me."

I was in total shock. His face was an inch away from mine.

"Do you believe me Ginny? I am so sorry. I understand if you don't… It's a feeble excuse."

"Of course I believe you Harry." I said.

"Alright then. Thank you for being there today."

"What? Torturing you? Your saying thank you?"

"Ginny. It wasn't you. It was Voldemort. You did NOTHING. Your too sweet for that." I smiled timidly.

"I love you."

"I love you too Harry." And he leaned in finally, for our first kiss.

**THE END**


End file.
